


Heads or Tails

by dsa_archivist



Category: due South
Genre: Alternate Universe, Drama, F/M, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, S&M, Slash
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 1999-04-23
Updated: 1999-04-22
Packaged: 2018-11-11 10:36:41
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 2
Words: 104,635
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11146683
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dsa_archivist/pseuds/dsa_archivist
Summary: Note from Speranza, the archivist: this story was once archived atDue South Archive. To preserve the archive, I began manually importing its works to the AO3 as an Open Doors-approved project in June 2017. I tried to reach out to all creators about the move and posted announcements, but may not have reached everyone. If you are (or know) this creator, please contact me using the e-mail address onDue South Archive collection profile.





	1. Heads or Tails

**Author's Note:**

> Note from Speranza, the archivist: this story was once archived at [Due South Archive](http://fanlore.org/wiki/Due_South_Archive). To preserve the archive, I began manually importing its works to the AO3 as an Open Doors-approved project in June 2017. I tried to reach out to all creators about the move and posted announcements, but may not have reached everyone. If you are (or know) this creator, please contact me using the e-mail address on [Due South Archive collection profile](http://archiveofourown.org/collections/duesoutharchive).

Heads or Tails

## Heads or Tails 

  
by Red Skye  
  
                *~~~~~~~~~~*ooOO0=@=0OOoo*~~~~~~~~~~*  
  
 **[A.R] M/F/M**  
  
NOTES:  
        -This is Ray's thoughts-  
        =This is Fraser's  
thoughts=  
        {Meg's  
thoughts}  
        *equals  
emphasis*  
  
        ***????**** denotes the  
feeling of confusion  
        *#@*$#*  
denotes mental cursing.  
  
                *~~~~~~~~~~*ooOO0=@=0OOoo*~~~~~~~~~~*  
  
        Ray's mother watched  
her son unwrap the spontaneous  
gift she'd given him with expectation  
as he wondered what it  
was and why the hell she was giving it to  
him. It didn't  
really matter, it was nice to see the smile back on her face  
she'd  
been so depressed since attending her old friends  
funeral, he vowed to paste on a smile and say he loved it  
whatever it was.  
        What it turned out to  
be was a set of a very expensive  
new after shave/Cologne he'd seen  
advertised on television,  
the commercial that always made him laugh because women  
dropped like flies around the L.A stud who supposedly wore  
it.  
        He broke into a genuine  
smile.  
        "Ma,  
you shouldn't have."  
        "You  
ran out."  
        "Is  
that why you brought this? This is so expensive."          
        She patted his cheek.  
        "If I can't  
spoil my son once in a while what's the  
point in being a mama."  
        He smiled and hugged  
her and she watched expectantly as  
he opened the bottle and sniffed  
it. It took everything he  
had not to rear back and hurl the offending bottle away.  
        -Ohgod no don't take  
that smile off her face, relax..  
Smile-  
        "There were so many  
to chose from but I remembered  
hearing you talking to Benton about  
that."  
        -Saved-  
        He screwed the lid back  
on.  
        "Ma, we  
were discussing the commercial Fraser just  
didn't get the joke..  
I wasn't hinting to any one that I'd  
like a bottle of it."  
        "I like the way  
it smells."  
        -You  
would it smells just like the cheap stuff pop  
always wore-  
        "And the salesman  
said it was a very popular scent,  
that a lot of women are buying  
it for their men because they  
like it."  
-And if you believe that I've got a bridge to sell you-  
        "Maybe  
you'll get lucky with it."  
        -Ohgod  
no I am not going to wear this no way no how-  
        "I'll  
save it for my special dates."  
        -That  
should do it-  
        She  
took the bottle from his hand opened it then  
splashed a little on  
her hand and patted it on his cheeks.  
        -GAG ARRRGHH NOOOO I  
DON'T WANT TO SMELL LIKE *HIM*-  
        She  
capped the bottle then sniffed at him and smiled  
brilliantly.  
        -Did you *have* to light  
up like a nova *sigh*-  
        "It  
smells even better on you.. It's supposed to change  
subtly for every  
man who wears it."  
        -Forget subtle I want  
drastic *gag*-  
        "Smells  
great."  
        -Please  
God don't make me wear this a second longer  
than I absolutely have  
to-  
         DING-DONG  
        -Saved by the bell-  
        He grabbed the bottle  
then spun to rush away and answer  
the door.  
        -A trip, Opps, bye-bye  
bottle *evil grin*-  
        Frannie  
beat him to the door opening it to the Denim,  
and silk clad Mountie  
in mufti.  
        -Perfect witnesses to  
my *accident*-  
        He  
deliberately hooked his toe under the rug and let  
himself fall,  
the bottle and glass atomiser flying from his  
hands and sailing through the air as his arms pinwheeled.  
        "Ray!"  
        Francesca spun to see  
the bottles flying through the  
air, and she and Fraser both struck  
out to catch the air  
borne bottles. Ray hit the floor catching himself on his  
hands at the last minute with an Oomph and a groan that  
wasn't feigned as he heard two slaps that told him two glass  
bottles  
had met palms.  
        "Got it!" Frannie  
crowed.  
        "Good  
catch." Fraser praised her.  
        -DAMN,  
DAMN, DAMN, DAMN-  
        "Lady  
Killer cologne - Ray, I can't believe you fell  
for that *add* and  
blew your money on this."  
        -Don't look at me, it  
was ma-  
        Then his  
mother was there clucking and helping him up  
to his feet and dusting  
at his clothes.  
        -You're really starting  
to scare me, ma-  
        "I'm  
O.k, I'm O.K.. I just tripped on the carpet," he  
said and then  
spoilt it all reached out to push her  
fluttering hands away.  
        As his hand touched hers  
and applied gentle pressure an  
agonising pain shot up his forearm  
and he couldn't contain  
the cry of pain, or his reflex action of nursing the  
affected wrist.  
        -Oh NO!-  
        Frannie and Fraser hurried  
over as his mother went into  
my *baby* is *dying* mode. To Ray's  
relief Frannie fended  
their mother off.  
        -I owe you one-  
        Fraser moved in reaching  
out to take his elbow, his  
sleeve was slipped back and Fraser's  
hand was moving over  
the injured limb gently but firmly looking for a break.  
        -*????* *DOWN* boy-  
        He couldn't suppress  
the shiver that ran down his spine  
at the contact and wanted to  
breath in the fresh clean Earth  
Forest scent that clung to everything  
the Mountie wore.  
        -He smells like Canada  
*giggle*-  
        Then he  
registered what Fraser was wearing, Levi's that  
almost moulded themselves  
to his legs, a blue silk shirt  
that enhanced his eyes and a thigh length denim coat cut in  
the Mountie dress coat style - the coat he'd borrowed one of  
Fraser's  
dress coats to take to a seamstress to make, the  
shirt, that coat, he'd given them to Fraser for his  
birthday. The Levi's were Frannie's contribution that day.  
And he couldn't remember ever seeing Fraser wear any of it  
before. With a smile he opened his mouth to say something  
about it.  
        His words were never  
spoken Fraser's hand moved over  
his wrist and the agonising stabbing  
pain up his arm  
increased ten fold. His legs buckled and his head went back  
in a scream of pain. The hand left his and he felt himself  
being enfolded in a supportive hold by an apologetic  
Mountie.  
        "It's a bad break."  
        Then his mother  
rushed off to the phone to hysterically  
summon an ambulance. Fraser  
transferred him to his shocked  
sisters arms in a smooth move and went after his mother and  
slapped  
her once, hard, but not hard enough to harm. The  
hysteric's ended and she ended up in his arms sobbing.  
        -I'm past scared now  
ma.-  
        The Mountie  
looked over her shoulder at the wide eyed  
sibling's with an equally  
wide eyed look.  
  
                        *~~~~~~~~~~*=@=*~~~~~~~~~~*  
  
        Fraser followed the seething  
Ray down the corridor  
moving in every now and then to get between  
Ray's plastered  
hand and wrist and the various things it would have thudded  
into as Ray's arms flew around in high agitation.  
        "The nerve of that  
*Quack!* saying all my mother really  
needs is to get *laid*."  
        =I know how the poor  
woman feels *sigh*=  
        "Over  
compensating for her lack of a sex life by  
turning into super mom  
to get affection Hah!"  
        Fraser's nose tickled.  
        =Ohno, not again  
I must have picked up a cold=  
        He  
fought the urge to sneeze as Ray's ranting picked up  
and put himself  
in front of Ray planted a hand in his chest  
and stopped him in his tracks.  
        "I have two words  
for you, Ray, Shut up."  
        Ray  
was so amazed he fell silent.  
        "I  
don't want to hear you calling that man a Quack  
again."  
        "But.."  
        "I said enough.  
Or have you forgotten that man was the  
same one who dealt with your  
wrist and the shape it was in  
after that incompetent intern got through with it."  
        Ray shuddered.  
        "You  
went absolutely berserk and if you don't stop  
ranting and calm down."  
        Ray held up his hands.  
        "I know.. I  
know.. They're going call for the guys with  
the white coats with  
long sleeves and lots of buckles."  
        "Exactly.  
If you want to rant. At least wait till we  
leave the hospital."  
        Ray nodded and Fraser  
opened his mouth but that tickle  
in his nose became a full blown  
sneeze and he sneezed so  
violently that he skidded a step or two back on the slick  
polished floors, his hat flying off his head.  
        "Now that's what  
I call a sneeze," Ray said as he  
looked around, to find and  
scooped up Fraser's hat, then  
studied the Mountie.  
        "You're not getting  
sick on me are you Benni?" Ray  
asked as he reached into his  
pocket pulling out a  
handkerchief and handed it over to Fraser.  
        Fraser raised it to his  
face and catching a whiff of  
Ray's scent on it, inhaled deeply.  
        =It smells just like  
him=  
        "It was  
just one sneeze, Ray."  
        "Yeah  
and what about the way you kept sneezing in the  
waiting room.. You  
just couldn't stop till that nurse came  
up and put that mask over your face. You shoulda seen a  
doctor about it."  
        "It seemed to stop  
after that. They said it was hay  
fever from the flowers in the room."  
        "There aren't any  
flowers here."  
        He  
tucked the handkerchief away up his sleeve.  
        "It  
was just one sneeze. It's stopped now."  
        Ray  
stepped up to him to put his hat back on his head  
and patted it  
down. Fraser took a discrete little sniff of  
him and his hands flew back up to his face as once more he  
skidded back down the corridor as the most violent sneeze so  
far  
assailed him.  
        =That *hurt*=  
        "Like  
hell it has."  
        Ray  
strode up, and hooked his plastered arm around  
Fraser's to drag  
him back up the corridor as Fraser looked  
at his hands feeling something warm and fluid on them.  
        =*Blood*=  
        The handkerchief was  
whipped out and applied to his  
bloody nose.  
        "We're here, we  
may as well take advantage of it and  
get a doctor to take a look  
at you."          
        =Who's  
arguing?=          
        He  
and Ray were separated as another violent sneeze  
erupted sending  
him skidding backwards down the corridor.  
        =That *really* hurt=  
        He looked at the  
handkerchief his eyes widening in  
alarm as he saw how much blood  
stained the once snowy linen.  
He felt a little light headed. He  
could feel the blood  
running through his nose now, so much blood.  
        =Why is there so much  
blood?=  
        Then Ray  
was back at his side and clucking.  
        =NO!=  
        He sneezed again, the  
pain was incredible, and his legs  
started trembling. Then Ray was  
there, in front of him,  
covered in blood.  
        =Oh no. I've ruined another  
one of his suits.=  
        But  
there was no anger only concern on Ray's part as he  
made Fraser  
reapply the handkerchief to try and stop the  
blood that fountained out to splatter on the floor.  
        "Watch out, bad  
enough you splattered me, don't  
splatter yourself with it."  
        =My shirt!=  
        "No keep your head  
up like that.. It's not hitting your  
clothes.. Over this way.. That's  
right there are chairs back  
here."  
        "Sit down, here..  
Now."  
        Fraser  
sat in the chair Ray lead him too and Ray leaned  
over him tipping  
his head back.  
        "Pinch your nose,  
I'll be right back with a doctor."  
        Fraser  
let out a wail of pain as another sneeze erupted  
from him as he  
was trying to obey Ray's command. Ray reared  
back to avoid being splattered with blood again.  
        "Breath through  
your mouth, Benni.. Pinch your nose and  
breath through your mouth."  
        Fraser followed his instructions,  
drawing in deep  
shuddering breaths.  
        =Hurts so much=  
        "Under control now?  
You're not going to sneeze again  
are you?"  
        He couldn't nod so he  
gave Ray the thumbs up.  
        "Good,  
I'll be back with a doctor, a nurse with an ice  
pack.. You just  
sit tight. O.K."  
        Then he was racing away  
and met up with disaster on  
that slick floor, as he slipped in the  
puddle blood of that  
was Fraser's. The next thing he knew he was flat on his back  
his  
head was ringing, his gut awash with nausea and Fraser  
was leaning over him, all concern, holding that blood soaked  
handkerchief  
to his nose.  
        Then he registered how  
white faced Fraser was and felt  
blood dripping from that soaked  
linen onto his chest.  
        -Gotta get up. Gotta  
get a Doctor-  
        Before  
he could act, Fraser's eyes rolled back and he  
had a faint Mountie  
collapsing over him. The breath he'd  
just caught exploded out of him, leaving him breathless.  
        -Benni! Ohgod!-  
        The world spun as the  
ringing in his ears grew louder,  
his eyes rolled back and he saw  
stars, before darkness  
descended.  
  
                        *~~~~~~~~~~*=@=*~~~~~~~~~~*  
  
        "If you thought  
she went gaga at home, you should have  
seen how she reacted to seeing  
you lying on the floor out  
cold with all that blood over your chest and Fraser out cold  
on  
top of you with all that blood on his face."  
        "I bet she got a  
doctor for us real quick shrieking, My  
Baby," Ray said looking  
into the mirror twisting his head to  
view the shaved spot and bandage  
on the back of his skull.  
        "A doctor, she could  
have roused the dead with that  
shrieking and wailing.. They dragged  
her off and sedated  
her. I took her home, put her to bed, Maria is watching  
her."  
        "You shoulda stayed  
with her."  
        "I  
didn't know what your condition was when I took her  
home."  
        "Bet it looked bad..  
All that blood."  
        She  
nodded and helped him make his way back to the bed,  
he was pretty  
shaky on his feet.  
        "You check on Fraser?"  
        "All that sneezing  
burst a few blood vessels, and every  
time he sneezed the damage  
got worse. That's why there was  
so much blood."  
        "He's going to be  
all right, isn't he?"  
        "Oh  
yes, they've got an ice pack on it and gave him a  
shot to make his  
blood clot faster, when the bleeding stops,  
they'll cauterise it  
so it won't happen again."  
        "Has he stopped  
sneezing?"  
        "Yes,  
for now. They put an air tube in his mouth so he  
wouldn't breath  
through his nose again and gave him  
something for the pain and he's drowsing."  
        "Well that's a mercy."  
        "And you can  
see him for yourself, when they're done  
they'll be moving him in  
here. He's in for the night, or  
until they work out why he started sneezing so bad, which  
ever comes first."  
        "They gotta find  
out why he's sneezing *first*."  
        "They  
will. The doctor got him to sign some forms,  
they're going to preform  
tests before he's moved here."  
        "How'd  
you get so much information?"  
        "It's  
that Doctor, he thinks you and Fraser are..  
Involved."  
        "What is it with  
that man?"  
        Rather  
than explain that he got the idea after Fraser  
had dealt with him  
going berserk she decided to distract  
him, if possible.  
        "Did you see what  
he was wearing?"  
        "Who?"  
        "Benton.. He  
was wearing the things we gave him for his  
birthday. I thought he  
looked great in it."  
        "Ha.. You think  
he looks great in anything he wears."  
        "But  
he does look good in just about anything."  
        Ray  
chuckled.  
        "But  
he looked great in that."  
        "That's  
the first time I've ever seen him wear  
something I gave him. Maybe  
he had a date to make."  
        "Benton. *snerk*  
The only person he ever dates is you."  
        "Hardy  
har-ha."  
  
                        *~~~~~~~~~~*=@=*~~~~~~~~~~*  
  
        Ray swung around the  
door way of the exam room to see  
Fraser sitting on the bed pulling  
on his coat from the back  
view. There was a strap around the back of his head.  
        "There you are Benni."  
        Fraser looked around  
as Ray entered, and Ray winced.  
What could be seen of Fraser's face  
under the special air  
filter mask he was wearing was a mass of ugly bruises.  
        "You're up."  
        "I thought  
they were going to transfer you to the same  
ward they put me in."  
        "I was, you must  
have been asleep.. I know you were  
still sleeping when they woke  
me up and brought me here for  
a few more tests."  
        "Did they work it  
out?"  
        "It  
would seem I've developed an allergy to something  
in the air. I  
have to wear this," he touched the mask, "and  
visit an  
allergist to find out what and undergo  
desensitisation treatment..or leave the city."  
        "The *City*! It's  
the air in here that did it to you,"  
Ray protested.  
        "No, Ray.. My nose  
was reacting before I entered the  
hospital.. Or didn't you notice  
the way I kept sniffling."  
        "Oh,  
yeah.. You went through all the tissues in the  
box."  
        Fraser tugged the coat  
on, then picked up small gadget  
with a chain attached and attached  
the chain to his mask  
strap before popping the gadget into the coat's top pocket.  
        "What's that?"  
        "Pollutant  
gauge."  
        Then  
he picked up another gadget and popped it into a  
pocket along with  
another and another.  
        "What's all that?"  
        "Analyser,  
sampler and alarm."  
        "Alarm?"  
        "In case I  
have another sneezing fit like that and  
can't stop sneezing."  
        He picked up another  
gadget and after he checked it,  
into the pocket it went, and then  
the final gadget was  
collected and held out.  
        "This is for you."  
        Ray took it.  
        "A pager?"  
        "For the alarm.  
The alarm will sound here, then they  
will use the pager to find  
out where I am, and I don't have  
a phone, but you have a cel phone and.."  
        "This is really  
serious, isn't it?"  
        "Well,  
yes, sneezing that violently, constantly, could  
lead to a broken  
rib, burst blood vessels.. I could even  
choke on my own blood or pass out because I can't stop  
sneezing long enough to draw breath - which almost happened  
in the waiting room if you'll recall."          
        "Yeah.. I remember  
you turning blue in the face before  
that nurse took charge."  
        "That's why they  
gave me the alarm. I have to keep it  
until I go through desensitisation  
or leave town. Which ever  
comes first."  
        "You are not leaving  
town."          
        "I  
may have to.. there's no guarantee desensitisation  
treatment will  
work if it fails I will have no choice but to  
leave. Take a transfer,  
back home if at all possible."  
        "It's  
gonna work."  
        He  
tucked the pager into his pocket and helped Fraser  
down off the  
bed and held onto his arm as the Mountie  
swayed.  
        "You o.k there?"  
        "It's the medication..  
it makes me a little light  
headed."  
        "Yeah, well just  
wrap your arm around me."  
        =Any  
time=  
        "And I'll help you  
out to the car."  
        "Thank-you."  
        "Let's go."  
        "The doctor.."  
        "I already  
saw the doctor, I've got the medical  
certificate for the Consulate.  
You're spending the rest of  
the day in bed, Doctor's orders, but you don't have to spend  
it  
here.. We've got to stop off and pick up a nebuliser and  
then your coming back to my place.. You're not going back to  
that  
flea pit till we get that place cleaned.. And ma can  
cluck over you while I take care of everything."  
        "Deifenbaker."  
        "I'll get someone  
to take care of him.. You can't be  
around him till this condition.."  
        "Allergy."  
        "Whatever is  
dealt with. That fur could set you off  
again."  
        "But I have my mask."  
        "You can't  
wear that around the clock. That means no  
fur, which means no contact  
with Deif. I already called  
home. They getting the house as clean as possible. No  
flowers. Remind me to stop at the front desk the doctor  
arranged for an oxy kit so I can take care of you if you go  
into another fit."  
          
                        *~~~~~~~~~~*=@=*~~~~~~~~~~*  
  
        "Promise you're  
not going to go gaga again on me again,  
Ma, you really scared us  
all when you did that," Ray said as  
he let his mother pat that  
detested after shave on the face  
she'd insisted on shaving for him, since he'd broken his  
dominant wrist.  
        "Did you take the  
pills the doctor gave you?"  
        "Did  
you take the ones he gave *you*?"  
        "Yes"  
        "So did I.  
So are you finished clucking, I have to go  
work now."  
        "In *your state*,  
you're.."  
        -Here  
we go again, cluck cluck, my baby, fuss fuss-  
        The  
door opened and Fraser poked his head in.  
        "Don't  
to forget to stop off and pick up some clothes  
on your way back."  
        Ray took the opportunity  
Fraser gave him to escape his  
mother's clutches and moved in on  
Fraser.  
        "What are you doing  
out of bed? You're supposed to stay  
in bed.."  
        "I need clothes."  
        "I said I'll  
take care of everything. And I will."          
        Fraser's nose twitched  
and his eyes widened, his hands  
flying to his face to grab at his  
nose then he was pulling  
away from Ray to bolt away. Ray flew after him and was  
almost knocked off his feet as the sneeze Fraser felt coming  
on  
hit and the Mountie came to a screeching halt the force  
of the sneeze threw him back, right into Ray.  
        Then Ray was hustling  
him back to the bedroom with his  
mother's help as fast as they could.  
Sneeze after sneeze  
racked the Mountie's body until they got him onto the bed.  
Ray worked fast to get the oxygen mask over Fraser's face,  
hitting the release switch, between one sneeze and the next.  
Fraser  
gulped in pure air while Ray and his mother shared  
concerned looks over his back.  
        -This is not good, not  
good at all-  
        "Find  
the filter Ma. He has to put it back on."  
        She  
looked around then saw it on the dresser and  
hurried over to collect  
it. They oxygen treatment seemed to  
do the trick, Fraser's sneezing subsided and he just sucked  
in oxygen and shuddered while Ray stroked his head.  
        "It's over now,  
Benni, just relax."  
        With  
his mother's help the oxygen mask was replaced  
with the filter mask  
in less than a second and Fraser was  
made to lie back.  
        "You O.K now?"  
        Fraser's hand went  
to his head and his chest, then flew  
to his gut.  
        "I think..I'm going  
to.."  
        He rolled  
fast to the edge of the bed as Ray dived for  
the waste paper basket  
and got it under Fraser's head. Just  
in time, Ray ripped the filter mask off as Fraser shuddered  
and threw up into the basket.  
        "There goes breakfast."  
  
                        *~~~~~~~~~~*=@=*~~~~~~~~~~*  
  
        With a grin Ray extended  
his cast out for a lovely lady  
with a pen at the precinct station  
house who was the 15th  
such person to offer to sign it. The cast was already  
covered in saucy comments, a phone number or two and a  
rather naughty cartoon one side.  
        -Maybe that sales man  
was right about this cologne  
being a babe magnet-  
        Huey wandered up with  
a pen as the woman took her  
leave.  
        "What's your secret  
you've had more women flocking  
around you today than I've seen in  
here at one time."          
        "Must be the  
after shave Ma brought for me."  
        Huey  
signed the cast then took a sniff of Ray.  
        "Not  
bad, it suits you."  
        -Thanks  
muchly, not-  
        "What  
is it?"  
        "L.K"  
        "Your mother  
brought Lady Killer Cologne for you?!"  
        "Yeah..  
She's been a really clucky mood lately, every  
time I turn around  
she's doing something *nice* for me, and  
hugging me and I'm telling you Huey - She's scaring me with  
all the attention."  
        Huey laughed.  
        "Seriously..  
She went into hysteric's when I fell and  
broke my arm. I mean real  
hysteric's, wailing the works, she  
was calling me "My Baby",  
Fraser had to slap her. And  
Frannie say's that when we had that  
accident in the hospital  
corridor."  
        "What accident?"  
        "Fraser sneezed  
so hard he burst a blood vessel there  
was blood on the floor, I  
sat him down and rushed off to get  
a doctor, only I slipped on the  
blood."  
        He turned to show Huey  
the bandage on the back of his  
head, pointing to it.  
        "And took a tumble  
\- 3 stiches."  
        "Ouch."  
        "And Fraser  
fainted right on top of me when he was  
leaning over me and bleed  
all over me.. The blood was just  
gushing out. And when Ma and Frannie walked in and there's  
me lying on the floor out cold with a big blood stain on my  
chest and Fraser's out cold with blood all over his face -  
Ma really lost it. They had to sedate her and thankfully  
Frannie took her home and tucked her into bed.. Or she'd  
have been clucking around my bed side all night."  
        "Well, considering  
the scene you described, I'd say  
your mother had good reason to  
lose it in the corridor."  
        "And  
this morning when I got back from dropping Fraser  
back home after  
they released us from the hospital, Ma's  
there, cluck, cluck, cluck, fuss, fuss, fuss. She wouldn't  
even let me shave myself, or pick out my own clothes. And  
the trouble I had getting out the door to get in here. I  
swear the shriek she let out where I said I had to go to  
work made all the glass in the bathroom vibrate. Fraser  
showed up at just the right time."          
        "What was he  
doing there?"  
        "He's  
staying at my place. He's got this allergy to  
something that makes  
him sneeze so bad that a sneezing fit  
could literally kill him. He needs to be watched till we can  
deal  
with the allergy."  
        "Sounds bad."  
        "It is. He  
had another fit at the house. It made him  
throw up and pass out  
and they cleaned that place from top  
to bottom before I got him home. Which proves what the  
Doctor was actually right when he said that Benni's allergic  
to  
the air around here."  
        "You mean he's allergic  
to Chicago?!"  
        "Something  
in the air. And as soon as they work out  
what, he's going through  
treatment."  
        He pulled a piece of  
paper out of his pocket.  
        "Look  
at all the stuff I've gotta do till we can get  
him treated."  
        Huey looked over the  
list.  
        "This  
is gonna cost a fortune."  
        "Yeah.  
Tell me about it. Oh, hey, I almost forget, I  
gotta find people  
to look after Deif till the treatments  
completed because Fraser can't be around him. The fur could  
set him right of."  
        He pulled out his note  
pad.  
        "I've  
already got it covered till Thursday, could you  
possibly take care  
of him on Friday."  
        "I guess."  
        Ray added Huey's  
name to the list.  
        "The  
doctor said it could take weeks or months for the  
treatment to be  
completed which means Benni can't be near  
Dief till it's done can I.."  
        "Ask me again, later."  
        Ray added a "possible?"  
to Huey's name.  
          
"Vecchio!"  
        Ray  
turned to scuttle off into Welsh's office.  
  
                  
*~~~~~~~~~~*ooOO0=@=0OOoo*~~~~~~~~~~*  
  
                                        Part  
Two  
                                  
*ooOO0=@=0OOoo*  
  
        "I can't believe  
she did that to me."  
        "Did  
what?" Fraser asked from his seat as he twiddled  
with his gadget's  
linking one with the other.  
        "Made Welsh send  
me home. She called him to wail in his  
ear that I was sick, sick,  
sick and needed to be home where  
I could be watched just in case I had *another* accident and  
killed  
my self the next time. What are you doing?"  
        "Did you know the  
pollutant gauge says the air in here  
has more allergens per inch  
than the air outside?"  
        -*sigh* Why is it the  
only person I can get sympathy  
off lately is Ma?-  
        Fraser leaned closer  
tilting his head to read something  
that had caught his eye on the  
plaster.  
        "Yours and Mine  
in 69."  
        "What?!"  
        Fraser pointed.  
        "That's what  
it says.. Did you break your arm in 69?"  
        "Fraser  
sometimes you are just too innocent for words."  
        "So  
what does it mean?"  
        -Should  
I or shouldn't I - What the hell?-  
        "It's  
referring to a sexual position. Turn the 69 on  
its side and work  
out which one for your self."          
        =I will not blush,  
I will not blush=  
        Fraser  
blushed.  
        "Oh."  
        Ray glanced around  
and chuckled.  
        -G-d,  
sometimes he's too cute for words **???***-  
        "I  
bet that doctor who said Ma needs to get laid thinks  
it's our favourite  
position."  
        Fraser turned an even  
deeper shade of red.  
        "Can  
you believe that man.. Calling us *lovebirds* if  
my arm hadn't  
been in plaster I think I might have decked  
him."  
        =*Siiiiigh*=  
        "What  
a bloody insult.. Calling us *gay* like that.  
Just because I like  
to look good doesn't make me *gay*. I  
resent the inference that because I like nice clothes, I  
must be *gay*. I mean For God's sake.. "  
        "Ray, you're babbling."  
        =And if you don't  
stop ranting like a raving homophobe  
I'm going to hit the park brake  
and get out.=  
        "You were no help  
standing there blushing like that as  
if being referred to as my  
lover was just too embarrassing  
for words, you should have done something."  
        "What did you expect  
me to do?"  
        "You  
could have *corrected* him, for God's sake, I was  
half tanked with  
all the shots they gave me. At least I had  
an excuse for not being able come up with a quick retort.  
What's yours?"  
        "It was partly your  
fault that he came to that  
assumption, and it wasn't because you  
wear expensive  
clothes."  
        "Oh so why did he  
make it and how was it my fault?"  
        "I  
said partly.. When you went berserk and pulled your  
gun.. "  
        "I did what?!"  
        "You pulled  
your gun on the intern who was examining  
you, after he turned your  
break into a compound fracture.  
You pulled your gun on him and threatened to blow his head  
off if he didn't get out of your sight and then you  
threatened to shoot the nurse who tried to get close enough  
to hit you with a sedative. And we heard you screaming and  
shouting and the intern was shouting he's got a gun.. and I  
went in and tried to get you to put it down, but.. you were  
in shock, you saw him as a threat and you wouldn't be calmed  
until  
he departed."  
        "And they got another  
Doctor."  
        "Yes.  
I tried to calm you down. At first you wouldn't  
give me the gun,  
but you wouldn't shoot me either and I just  
worked on reducing the  
level of tension, stroking your back  
and arm.. assuring you that no one else was going to hurt  
you until you let me take the gun."  
        "And he saw that?"  
        "Yes. That  
and how I held you till the shot took affect  
and you went under.  
After you went under he shooed me out  
and said, and I quote "Don't worry I'll take good care of  
your  
S.O.."  
        "Significant Other.  
The PC way of saying Defacto  
especially when referring to Gay people."  
        "I do know what  
it means."  
        "So  
why didn't you correct him then?"  
        "He  
was shoving me out the door and closed it in my  
face before I could.  
And it was Francesca's suggestion that  
I should let it slide."  
        "Oh it was, was  
it?"  
        "Yes,  
she said we could take advantage of it, because  
the Doctor would  
tell me everything, and leave her free to  
take care of your mother without having to worry about you  
too."  
        "Ah."  
        -Well, that kind of makes  
sense. I suppose can let it  
slide under the circumstances-  
        "And that's why  
I didn't correct him. I was taking  
advantage of it the same way  
you took advantage of it."  
        Ray  
smiled faintly.  
        "It  
did have its advantages."  
        Fraser  
took his gadgets apart and took a sample of the  
air slipping the  
sample into the case for that purpose and  
tucked his bits away into the pockets.  
        "By the way, I don't  
believe that I mentioned how much  
I like this coat Ray."  
        "If you like it  
so much then why haven't I seen you  
wearing it before?"  
        "Because I lost  
the key."  
        "Key  
to what?"  
        "The  
storage crate I packed the clothes into."  
        "You  
*locked* your clothes away?"  
        "Just  
the expensive ones you gave me."          
        "I thought  
you didn't lock anything?"  
        "I  
have a lot of expensive and valuable things in the  
apartment right  
now.. The storage company who were storing  
all my personal effects closed down and shipped them out in  
storage crates. Locked storage crates. I got the keys, via  
the consulate, they sent them in a diplomatic pouch."  
        "Those guys take  
security seriously."  
        "Very."  
        "So why did  
they close down?"  
        "They're  
relocating. It will take some time to  
construct new storage facilities  
to their high standards."  
        "And  
you'll send all your stuff back when they do."  
        "Yes."  
        "I guess I'll  
have to make arrangements to get it  
stored away while your.. "  
        "Oh, it's already  
stored away, at the consulate. I did  
that the day before yesterday.  
I've only got one crate now.  
With all the things I wanted to keep with me in it."  
        "Really valuable  
stuff?"  
        "One  
of the parcels contains something that would be  
worth several thousand  
dollars to collectors. Another item  
would be.. "  
        "You've got some  
sort of collectors item worth a few  
thousand *dollars*."  
        "Items.. Sheet  
music. Over 50 pieces of it, all of it  
has been autographed. They  
were part of a reward that was  
given to me by a musician for returning a rather unique  
instrument that had great sentimental value to him after it  
was stolen."  
        "A famous musician?"  
        "Very, his  
band was once listed as the highest earning  
performers in the world  
in the Guiness book of records."  
        Ray  
let out a low whistle.  
        "And  
they have a great many fans who would be willing  
to part with large  
sums of money for items autographed by  
the whole band, which the sheet music and records were."  
        "You  
got records too."  
        "Oh,  
no, that was.. My Partner.. He's a fan of the  
band, and he helped  
me recover that guitar without realising  
it."  
        "Oh.."  
        "It was the *unique  
sound* of the instrument. The  
musician built it with his own two  
hands with his father.  
And my partner was always playing their music, I was  
familiar with that particular guitar's unique sound. I knew  
it had been stolen, the band cancelled all their concerts  
after it happened and he dragged me all the way into the  
capital to attend one with him.. He was in a very foul  
temper about the cancellation."  
        "And you guys volunteered  
to work on the case."  
        "Er..  
He did, but they already had people working on  
it. I just happened  
to be in the right place at the right  
time when I heard that guitar being played. I recognised the  
tune  
that was being played - badly - first, and then I  
recognised the tones of the instrument. That was the easy  
part.. The hard part was getting it back in one piece. I  
was injured diving for it when he hurled it away correctly  
assuming I'd try and catch it while he made his get away."  
        "So he got away  
with it and made you chase him."  
        "He  
was very fast, very agile, and knew the city like  
the back of his  
hand, and had it strapped over his back as  
he leapt fences, ran across roofs and through storm water  
drains. I think I pursued him for over 5 kilometres till he  
realised he just wasn't going to shake me."  
        "Yeah I bet he couldn't  
believe you kept up."  
        "I  
almost lost him, twice, when he slipped into the  
drains, fortunately  
I found two people who pointed me in the  
right direction, and he  
picked up mud on his boots in the  
drains which left enough tracks for me to start catching  
up."  
        "So did you actually  
catch him in the end or.. "  
        "No..  
Saving the guitar put me in hospital."  
        "What?!"  
        "We were on  
the roof tops.. There was an alley way  
between us.. I could have  
made the jump and by that stage  
he knew it. And I was *right* on his tail at that stage. He  
ripped it off and told me he'd drop it and destroy it if I  
didn't give up."  
        "And you prepared  
to jump anyway."  
        "I  
thought he was bluffing.. After all he was a fan,  
and was aware  
of its value."  
        "And you just had  
to announce that fact, so he dropped  
it.. And you leapt for it."  
        "Exactly, I was  
able to catch it.. But it was a multi-  
story building and even though  
I fell onto a pile of garbage  
with it, it was quite a drop. I broke  
several bones when I  
hit it. And it's quite fortunate he didn't stick around to  
see if I managed to catch it or not.. I was out cold for  
some time.. He could have collected it again and made good  
his escape with the instrument."  
        Then he frowned.          
        "What?"  
        "That wasn't  
right.. He couldn't have taken it.. I  
remember now, they complained..  
Because they couldn't get  
the guitar out of my arms.. That's right, I knew there was  
a high degree of probability the fall would knock me out and  
the  
last thing I did before I passed out was to lock my arms  
around  
it.. They couldn't take the guitar away from me, not  
without breaking my arms to do it."  
        "Is that what they  
did?"  
        "No..  
They put me into the ambulance with it, and one  
of the doctor's  
whispered the magic words in my ear when I  
was semi conscious and I let go."  
        "The Magic Words?"  
        "He essentially  
made it possible to personally return  
the guitar to the musician.  
Who was notified and came to the  
hospital to collect it and the  
Doctor returned it to me to  
present it to him and made sure he was there to get his  
autograph too."  
        Ray laughed.  
        "Another  
fan."  
        "Once  
he got his autograph he cleared the room out and  
gave me a chance  
to talk to the musician who wanted to hear  
all about how I got it back and I told him all about it, and  
how  
it was my partner's birthday soon and how if it wasn't  
an imposition.. the bands autographs would make a fine  
gift."  
        Ray laughed.  
        "You  
could have asked for a hell of a lot more and got  
it after what  
you did."  
        "I did get more,  
we talked about other things. He  
showed his gratitude on the day  
by staying there and talking  
with me till my partner arrived."  
        "So what did you  
talk about?"  
        "Music..  
Being a Mountie.. Canada.. He talked about  
the band & music. And  
I got to meet him again he showed up  
on Dante's Birthday with the Vocalist, and they gave Dante a  
complete  
collection of all their records, all autographed,  
under glass, for his birthday."  
        Ray smiled.  
        "He remembered what  
you said and tracked your partner  
down on his birthday, just to  
thank-you."  
        "Oh they stayed  
for a few days. We were stationed a  
rather remote outpost, and our  
cabin was big enough to hold  
six men. And they enjoyed a break without worrying about  
fans for a few days before the rescheduled concerts  
started."  
        "Your partner must  
have been in seventh heaven."  
        "He  
thought it was wonderful, especially watching me  
and the guitarist  
play together. He always liked it when I  
played. His jaw hit the floor when I started singing too.  
Then he clipped my ear and said why didn't you tell me you  
could hold a tune."  
        Ray laughed.  
        "I  
will never forget that time.. It was one of the  
happiest weeks  
of my life."  
        "I bet."  
        "They said I had  
real talent. And they sent us tickets  
to the last show, and the  
RCMP PR department set things up  
with them.. And just before the Finale.. A ramp set down.  
They announced they wanted the audience to thank the man who  
saved  
the tour when he recovered the guitar. And I rode out  
on stage  
in my dress reds."  
        "For real."          
        "Yes, there  
was this incredible wave of sound when the  
crowd roared as I rode  
onto stage.. They were clapping and  
cheering and didn't stop as I went through the routine I  
practiced with them all morning. I almost blew it when the  
vocalist slipped up behind me for a circuit on the horse.  
That was prearranged - him whispering naughty suggestions in  
my  
ear while we did it wasn't."  
        Ray very carefully pulled  
over, then gave into the  
laughter.  
        "And he took advantage  
of the fact I couldn't stop him  
having a little grope or two - I  
almost fell off the horse."  
        Ray  
almost wet himself with laughter.  
        "Oh  
\- stop.. "  
        "I  
got my revenge when I made the horse rear up and  
turn in a circle  
on its back legs. He had to stop groping me  
and hold on for dear  
life or fall off onto that hard stage.  
The crowd loved it. So did the PR people. They had pictures  
of me doing that in every newspaper the next day, and a clip  
on  
the news, along with the finale. When I played God Save  
The Queen with the Guitarist on the Guitar he presented me  
with. It was bright red, to go with my uniform."  
        He reached into the bag  
at his feet and pulled out a  
bottle of water and offered it to Ray  
as his laughter ended.  
        "That  
*really* happened.. You're not just making it  
up."  
        "Why would I make  
up something like that?"  
        "I  
don't know, to make me laugh, I've been pretty  
grumpy lately."  
        "Out of concern  
about your mother. I thought you were  
exaggerating the situation  
till I saw the way she reacted to  
your fall and break."  
        "That was the worst  
she's been. By the way what were  
doing there?"  
        "I.. wanted to talk  
to you."  
        "Oh..  
yeah.. I figured there was something bothering  
you, you were so  
quiet all the time, I guessed you didn't  
want to bother me with your problems while I had a big  
problem of my own to deal with."  
        "You're right."  
        "So, tell what  
the problem is."  
        Fraser  
looked away.  
        "Benni."  
        Fraser took a deep  
breath.  
        "I  
came to tell you I couldn't be your partner any  
more."  
        Ray stared at him in  
shock.  
        "What?!  
They ordered you to .. "  
        "No..  
"  
        "Then  
why?"  
        "I..  
don't think.. it's right.. "  
        "What's  
not right?!"  
        Fraser  
took a deep breath.  
        "Dante  
was more than my partner he was my significant  
other."  
        That shocked Ray even  
more.  
        "You're  
Gay!"  
        "No..  
I'm Bi."  
        "And  
you didn't think I deserved to know it?!"  
        "I  
don't proscribe to meaningless relationships, I only  
form sexual  
relationships with people I have.. deep  
feelings for."  
        "You told me Victoria  
was..."  
        "I  
didn't think you'd be comfortable if you knew."  
        "What  
you think I'd tell you to go to hell just because  
you're Gay?!"  
        "Bi."  
        "Whatever."  
        "Your Catholic,  
your heterosexual, and you often  
express what could be called homophobic  
sentiments."  
        "Yeah, well... If  
you'd told me you were gay.."  
        "Bi."          
        "I wouldna  
expressed sentiments like that around you. I  
don't have anything  
against gay people personally I just  
take offence when someone insinuates I'm gay. And if you  
were so worried about how I'd take it, why are you telling  
me now? What changed?"  
        "You were going  
to find out. Everyone is. And everyone  
is going to wonder about  
our partnership and that is why I  
can't be your partner any more."  
        "Who is he?! Who  
is this guy who told you it was him or  
me?!"  
        "He didn't make  
any ultimatums. He doesn't even know  
about you. He hasn't arrived  
yet. I thought it would be  
better if our partner ship dissolved before he arrived. That  
way  
you wouldn't be humiliated when the news got out."  
        "You're coming out  
of the closet with this guy."  
        Fraser  
nodded.  
        "I  
love him. I always have. But my father had him  
exiled overseas to  
end our relationship."  
        "This isn't some  
guy you've met recently. You're  
talking about that Dante guy."  
        Fraser nodded.  
        "Now  
Inspector Thatcher is about to take a long leave  
to nurse one of  
her parents, who's dying. She won't return  
for some time. Dante was chosen to hold down the fort while  
she's away. Because they want to see if he can handle the  
position before he takes over the role permanently at the  
consulate he's been stationed at all these years."  
        Ray looked away staring  
out the window for a long time.  
Fraser collected his bag from the  
floor and reached for his  
seat belt.  
        "If it works out  
\- you're going to leave with him  
aren't you.? You're going to go  
with him. I'm never gonna  
see you again.."  
        "No," Fraser  
said cutting in on what might have become  
another round of babbling  
on Ray's part.  
        "No?!"  
        "I already know  
that he wouldn't ask me to go with him.  
And he'd reject an offer  
by me to go with him. He did it  
when I tried to follow him last time."  
        "So what happens  
if he doesn't want to get involved  
with you again? If that happens  
no one has to know about you  
being Bi and we can still be partners."  
        "Oh. I'm sure he'll  
be reluctant at first. He held me  
at arms length for a year before  
he finally gave in and I  
know how to get through all his little defenses. I'll do  
whatever it takes.. Because it will be the last chance I  
ever have to be with him."  
        Then he opened the door.  
        "Good-bye,  
Ray, and thank-you, for everything."  
        The  
he slipped out of the car and walked away.  
        Ray  
stared at nothing for a very, very long time before  
he finally pulled  
out and drove to a bar where he got very  
very drunk.  
  
                  
*~~~~~~~~~~*ooOO0=@=0OOoo*~~~~~~~~~~*  
  
                                        Part  
Three  
                                  
*ooOO0=@=0OOoo*  
  
        To his dismay Ray discovered  
that not only had Fraser  
cut him off, but all his friends outside  
the consulate were  
cut off too. What's more it seemed that even his friends and  
associates  
at the consulate had been cut off too. To all  
intents and purposes Fraser had vanished, utterly. No one  
seemed to know where he was.  
        It took some work, but  
Ray finally tracked Fraser down,  
to a medical center. He dropped  
in to see him dressed in  
raw unbleached cotton draw string pants, as he resided  
within a sterile bubble room. He wasn't allowed near him,  
all he could do was look through the observation window to  
watch the miserable looking Mountie sit on a pile of bedding  
on  
the floor with his guitar and some sheet music. His eyes  
were ringed with bruises that stood out against his pale  
face.  
        Ray couldn't help but  
notice that there was no bed or  
furniture in the room. The bedding  
consisted of what looked  
like two or three thick quilts, covered with the same raw  
unbleached cotton as his pants, so were the sheets, though  
the blankets on the bed were quite colourful wool blankets.  
Not the usual sort of thing you see in a hospital. Even more  
interesting  
was how the sheet music came in laminated  
sheets.  
        "He's quite good,  
isn't he?" Fraser's allergist said.  
        Ray  
glanced around for a moment.  
        "I'm  
Doctor Zacheria. The allergist in charge of his  
case and you're  
.."  
        "Raymond Vecchio."  
        "Ah... His  
S.O, Doctor Weinstien told me to expect you,  
I was starting to think  
you had an allergy to hospitals."  
        Ray  
gave a weak smile.  
        "How  
is he?"  
        "We're  
still trying to work out what he's alergic to  
and having a hell  
of a time doing it. Every time he took the  
mask off he started sniffling,  
within a few minutes, he's  
sneezing. Sometimes, he started sneezing almost as soon as  
the mask came off."  
        "I guess that makes  
it difficult."  
        "It  
happens no matter where we do the tests. That's why  
we put him in  
the bubble. It's reserved for people who have  
20th century disease."  
        "20th century disease?"  
        "Around the  
globe there are people who've developed  
allergies to synthetics  
and pollutants in the air. Some  
react violently to allergens. With one exception, everything  
in  
the room is 100 percent natural. The bedding is 4 layers  
of extra thick duck down quilts sewn together, raw cotton  
sheets, the blankets are pure wool, dyed with natural dyes,  
like beetroot. Everything was boiled too within an inch of  
its life in purified water, dried in a sterile environment,  
and vacuumed before it was transferred here. We even make  
sure his food is all natural, cooked according to the  
guidelines for people with 20th century disease."  
         "The sheet music  
and the guitar?"  
          
"The guitar is brand new, it was sterilised before we  
let him  
have it. The music was laminated to stop stray  
strands of the paper setting him off again. We thought he  
could use a break.. He'll stay there till the bruising goes  
down."  
        "What if I wanted  
to go in?"  
        "You  
can't. No one enters the chamber and no one will  
till I'm ready  
to start testing him again."  
        "How does he communicate  
with people?"  
        The  
doctor pointed.  
        "Via  
the intercom. Just hit the red button to  
transmit."  
        Ray looked at it, then  
through the glass at Fraser.  
        "I'll  
leave you alone, to have a little privacy, do you  
have any more  
questions?"  
        "What if you can't  
work out what's causing the  
allergy?"  
        "The experts will  
rebuild his home and turn it into a  
bubble house, making it absolutely  
sterile and he'll spend  
the rest of his days in it."  
        Ray barely suppressed  
a shudder at the very thought of  
Fraser spending the rest of his  
days a prisoner in a sterile  
bubble house. When he didn't ask any  
more questions, the  
doctor left, giving him the promised privacy. Ray just  
watched Fraser, listening to his music until Fraser happened  
to  
glance up and see him.  
        It would have been difficult  
to mistake Fraser's  
reaction for anything but shock. Ray moved to  
switch the  
intercom over to two way conversation mode.  
        "Hi."  
        "What are you doing  
here? I thought I made it clear.."          
        "People talk...  
And people were wondering why you up  
and vanished. I get at least  
half a dozen people asking me  
about you every day. Deif is pining for you and I don't know  
what  
I'm supposed to do with him or tell people when they  
ask about you."  
        Fraser looked away.  
        "And the Doc insinuated  
that you have 20th century  
disease that you might have to spend  
the rest of your life  
in a place like this.. What am I supposed to do about Deif?  
Take care of him myself? Return him to the wild? though I  
don't think it's a good idea. I never heard of junk food  
growing on trees or roaming around in the wild and the only  
thing that beast knows how to hunt is junk food. I swear he  
could track a man with a snickers bar down from 20 blocks  
away."  
        His attempt to inject  
a little humour into things fell  
flat, all it seemed to do was add  
to Fraser's misery. He  
heard the heavy sigh Fraser let out clearly over the  
intercom, and saw his shoulders slump.  
        "I'm sorry.. Excuse  
me while I extract both legs from  
my mouth, I think I put both feet  
in up to the hip. You  
don't have to worry about Deif. I'll take good care of him.  
Whatever happens."  
        "Did he really say  
I'd have to spend the rest of my  
life in a place like this?"  
Fraser asked looking up at Ray,  
his whole body pleading with the  
Italian to tell him it  
wasn't so.  
        "Only if they can't  
work out what's setting you off,  
but you don't have to worry about  
it.. That's just the worst  
case scenario, and I did a little checking  
before I came.  
You couldn't have checked yourself into a better place.  
They'll work out what your allergic to and desensitise you.  
Just you wait and see."  
        "I've been here  
two weeks already, the only time I  
don't sneeze when the filter  
mask comes off is when I'm shut  
up in this room."  
        "I'm sure he'll  
find a way around that problem and then  
you'll get treatment, and  
get out of here, and come after my  
head for letting Deif get fat  
on junk food and pasta."  
        "You know it's bad  
for him."  
        "Ma's  
already getting the hint. She's spoiling him, in  
a way you'd approve  
of. She's read everything on wolves she  
can lay hands on, talked to zoo keepers about them. Put him  
on a diet you can't complain about, takes him for walks all  
the time. And it's off to the park at least 3 times a day.  
Her taking over his care has been a real godsend in some  
ways. Instead of smothering me with attention, she's  
smothering Deif in it and he's loving every minute of it.  
You should see him, his coat practically glistens, she's  
always brushing him down, and he loves it."  
        "As long as she  
doesn't start knitting little coats,  
bonnets and mittens for him.  
He finds it an affront to his  
dignity."  
        Ray chuckled.  
        "Well  
she did get him a new collar, and a big dog  
basket, that sits at  
the end of the bed. I went around to  
your place and got your blanket from the bed and put it in  
the basket and he settled down in it pretty fast. But I keep  
waking  
up with him snuggled up at my back or over my feet.  
It seems that he worked out how to get out of her room and  
does it when everyone's settled down for the night. You  
shoulda heard the shriek Frannie let out when she went down  
to get a glass of water in the middle of the night and  
discovered he prowls the house in the wee small hours."  
        Fraser  
smiled faintly.  
        "And  
last night, he dragged your blanket into my room  
and onto the bed.  
Beyond that, he's been on his best  
behaviour, he doesn't even pull that, Lip reading, what's  
that trick of his any more. I kinda got the feeling he  
thinks he's being punished."  
        Fraser heaved a deep  
sigh.  
        "He would.  
I put him on a very strict diet because he  
was getting pudgy, and  
he mugged someone for their hamburger  
just before I visited you.  
I gave him a very stern lecture  
and threatened to send him back to the wild."  
        "Oh."  
        "But there's nothing  
I can do about it now. I can't go  
near him and you'd never be permitted  
to bring him here."  
        "I  
know you don't want me to come back.. And there's  
really not much  
else to say. Promise me, the moment you get  
out you'll come around and get him. And.. If you don't show  
your face after that Dante guy goes back home.. I'm gonna  
hunt you down and .."  
        "When I said Good-bye  
\- I meant it. I don't intend to  
resume associating with you when  
Dante leaves."  
        "Benni.."  
        "I'll return home  
to Canada."  
        "You  
think I care what people think, Fraser? I don't."  
        Fraser  
couldn't look at him.  
        "Since  
I put Victoria behind me.. I've found myself  
thinking about my future..  
She can never be apart of it.  
Until I found out Dante was going to temporarily replace the  
inspector,  
I didn't think about him being part of it.. There  
were two other  
people.. though, who I hoped would be. The  
inspector was one.. but she keeps giving me mixed signals  
and I don't think it would be wise to pursue a relationship  
with her. Or that she'd consider it while I remain her  
subordinate. As for the other person I would never.. act on  
my feelings because I know they wouldn't appreciate it.. So  
it never came up..."  
        "You're talking  
about me - I'm the other person. Aren't  
I?"  
        "I know how the  
church views same sex relationships,  
and you made your opinion of  
them very clear."  
        Ray felt like bashing  
his head against something hard.  
        "But  
even though I know your views it doesn't stop me  
from.. Finding  
my self wishing for your company, and it has  
been getting harder to ignore.. I can't change you, it's not  
your  
fault.. that some of the things you do turn me on."  
        Ray  
turned bright red and Fraser rose moving toward the  
partition.  
        "And that is why  
I'll be going home when Dante leaves.  
Why I don't want to associate  
with you any more. Good-bye,  
Ray.."  
          
                        *~~~~~~~~~~*=@=*~~~~~~~~~~*  
          
        A month passed, during  
which time Ray returned to work  
with a wolf on his heels. It felt  
good to be working again,  
and gave him something to keep his mind off Fraser. He  
buried himself in his work, clearing cases in record time,  
getting himself into trouble. But having Deif shadowing him  
proved to be a godsend on more than one occasion when the  
wolf had come to his rescue.  
        Then came the morning  
when he'd walked out of the house  
with Deif on his heels and lost  
the Wolf. He'd opened the  
Riv's door and pushed the seat back for the wolf before he  
realised Deif hadn't followed him. He looked around to see  
the wolf standing on the grass giving him a rather strange  
look, then as he watched, the wolf suddenly bounded away,  
racing down the street.  
        He raced after the wolf,  
but Deif was faster than he  
was, rounding the corner, bounding out  
of sight. By the time  
Ray reached the corner, the wolf was out of  
sight. Ray raced  
on regardless and searched high and low for the  
wolf till he  
ended up sliding down a wall into a panting heap, holding  
his side grimacing at the pain of the stich that had finally  
ended  
his search for the wolf.  
        When he finally caught  
his breath, he staggered back up  
to his feet and trudged home, holding  
his side to be meet by  
Maria who gave him what for, for scaring  
them by running off  
leaving his car wide open that way and wanting  
to know where  
Deif was.  
        He didn't learn what  
inspired Deif's bolt until late  
afternoon when his mother called  
him at the precinct to tell  
him she'd found two envelopes someone  
had slipped under the  
door when no one was home.  
        "There was a thank-you  
card, with money."  
        "Fraser."  
        "Yes.. The  
other envelope was addressed to you."  
        "Just  
put it on my dresser, I'll look at it when I get  
home."  
        "Why didn't he come  
to the door and collect Deifenbaker  
in person? Why did he have to  
do it and thank us in stealth?  
Did you have a fight?.. Raimondo,  
I asked you a question."  
        Ray  
was tempted to confirm her guess, it would be  
easier than telling  
her the truth. Instead he sighed.  
        "No ma.. I'll talk  
to you when I get home."  
        He  
hung up wondering how he'd explain why Fraser wasn't  
going to be  
around any longer and resorted to such stealthy  
measures to get Deif back.  
        A less than subtle cough  
had him looking up to find a  
curious Elaine and Huey standing by  
his desk.  
        "What?"  
        "Did I hear you  
say Fraser?"  
        "Is  
he out of the hospital?"  
        "He  
must be, if he got worse, Ray'd be out of here so  
fast that he'd  
break the sound barrier on his way out."  
        "Very  
funny."  
        "And  
he's missing his furry side kick."  
        "He  
took off this morning."  
        "That's  
why you were late."  
        "Yeah.  
That was my mother telling me Fraser dropped off  
a thank-you card.  
So I guess Dief smelt him coming and ran  
off to meet him."  
        "He didn't say hello?"  
        "Benni stopped  
talking to me before he went into  
hospital."  
        "Did you two have  
another fight?"  
        Ray  
sighed. Once word got out about Fraser being out of  
hospital, he  
was sure to be hearing that question a lot.  
          
                        *~~~~~~~~~~*=@=*~~~~~~~~~~*  
          
        3 months passed before  
Ray saw Fraser again, and it was  
a sighting that left him standing  
stock still in the middle  
of a park, in shock.  
        His Fraser, laughing  
as he writhed in the playful  
embrace of a living Adonis in a expensive  
designer clothing.  
Turning in the man's embrace to kiss him, arms  
wrapped  
around his neck, their passion for each other blatant and on  
show  
for all to see. Deif bounded around the passionate pair  
in excited  
circles until they broke it up and gave their  
attention to him and then they moved off teasing Deif with  
some form of junk food.  
        A gentle hand on his  
arm snapped Ray out of it and he  
turned to see his mother's concerned  
face.  
        "You miss him, don't  
you Raimondo?"  
        Ray  
nodded with a sigh.  
        "Why  
don't you go after him?"  
        "Ma  
\- he's with his *lover*."  
        "I  
noticed. Is that what you had a fight over? His  
orientation? Is  
that why you don't talk to him any more? You  
disappoint me Ray."  
        "You don't care?  
I mean that he's.. you know.. "  
        "Bisexual."  
        "Yeah. The  
church.. "  
        "Say's  
many things are a sin, many things that you do  
are considered a  
sin, divorcing your Angie, having non  
marital sex with various partners.. I never stopped you  
doing it. And it's not as if you're going to have that sort  
of relationship with him - it's very very obvious that he's  
very much in love with that Adonis he's with."  
        "Yeah.. He is.."  
        "And for that  
you cut him off."  
        "What  
do you think people are going to be thinking once  
they find out  
about his relationship with Mr Muscles. I'll  
tell you what they're going to be thinking, they're gonna be  
wondering  
just how close we really were. They're wonder if  
I'm Gay, if I was sleeping with him. That's what they're  
going to be thinking."  
        "What's worse, what  
people *might* think, or loosing  
your best friend because you're  
too afraid to accept what he  
is because of what others might think?"  
        "If it was up to  
me, I'd say to hell with what people  
think."  
        "Then go after him,  
say Hi, who's your friend - show  
him it doesn't matter to you."  
        "Why don't you?  
It wasn't my idea. It was his and half  
the reason Benni ended our  
relationship was out of worry how  
the people around me would react  
to this.. If he sees you  
can handle what he is.. He might .. change his mind."  
        She  
looked around, as did Ray.  
        "Damn  
too late.. They're gone."  
        "Another  
time.. They'll come back.. Then I'll do it."  
  
                        *~~~~~~~~~~*=@=*~~~~~~~~~~*  
  
        Ray was driving down  
the street, when out of nowhere  
the Mountie steeped directly into  
the path of his car and  
planted himself in middle of the road. Ray came to a  
screeching halt less than an inch away, then Fraser strode  
around the car, ripped the door open and climbed in.  
        "Are you mad! I  
could have hit you!"  
        "Drive..  
Before you start a traffic jam." Fraser said,  
doing up his  
seat belt.  
        "What did you do  
that for?"  
        "I  
saw your car.. I chased you for three blocks till I  
got ahead of  
you. I couldn't keep chasing you till you  
reached lights. So I made you stop."  
        "Why do it in the  
first place?"  
        "You  
sent your mother after me, that was a very low  
thing to do."  
        "Oh, she caught  
you in the park."  
        "That  
cost me a black eye."  
        "What?!"  
        "Dante's a  
very.. Jealous man, your mother babbled on  
about how much you miss  
having me around.. And he took it  
all the wrong Ray.. We had a fight about it later."  
        "And he hit you."  
        "Yes."  
        "Leave him."  
        "No."  
        "G-d Benni,  
you ought to know better."  
        "I  
know better - that's why I told you our partnership  
was over. I  
knew he'd get jealous and that it'd lead to a  
fight. And he's got a perfect right to act that way whenever  
he  
feels our relationship is threatened."  
        "He doesn't have  
the right to hit you."          
        "I hit him  
back and then we kissed and made up.. "  
Fraser said, a cheeky  
smile appearing, "Very passionately  
that was the end of it.  
I know how to handle his jealous  
snits."  
        "So he's done it  
before."  
        "I  
gave him good cause not to trust me once."  
        "Translation."  
        Fraser rubbed at  
his nose, then pulled the filter mask  
off his belt, bringing it  
to Ray's attention as he pulled it  
on.  
        "Are you still using  
that? I thought they cured your  
allergy."  
        "They never found  
out what triggered the sneezing fits,  
I just stopped having them.  
They decided it was an allergic  
reaction to some form of pollen that was in the air at the  
time... I don't believe that, not any more. I've had over a  
dozen sneezing fits since I got out and I still don't know  
what triggers them, but I do know the signs and I keep this  
on hand to deal with them."  
        "And it works?"  
        "As long as  
I get it on before it goes from a sniffle  
to a sneeze. The one time  
I misplaced it, I had a sneezing  
fit, right in front of Dante.. That's when he stopped  
pretending I was just another subordinate and started  
clucking."  
        "Until my mother  
came along and then he turned into the  
green eyed monster."  
        "He doesn't trust  
me very much."  
        "Why?  
You said you gave him a good reason not to trust  
you. What was it?"  
        "We weren't official  
partners at first.. He was a  
superior officer and I had a very attractive  
woman for my  
partner - in the same way you and I were. She provided an  
excellent cover for our relationship everyone thought she  
and I were partners of a different kind."  
        "And he got in a  
snit about it."  
        "He  
came home and caught me in bed with her."  
        "Fraser!"  
        "It was the  
only time I ever slept with her."  
        "You  
know I never figured you for the cheating type."  
        "I  
wasn't cheating on him.. It just..happened, well,  
I'm sure she planned  
for things to end that way, but I  
certainly didn't expect her to pounce.. and er... Dante and  
I never made the fact our relationship was less than  
platonic known to others.. and it's a very long story."  
        "Oh  
I'm sure it is."  
        "She  
was like Irene."  
        "What?!"  
        "Her brother  
was a crime lord. I didn't know it till  
that night. I was always  
trying to recruit her.. I thought  
she'd make a brilliant mountie. She always rejected the  
suggestion.. That was the night I found out why.. She was  
caught between two worlds. The world she wanted, and his  
world.. "  
        "Was she part of  
his syndicate?"  
        He  
sighed and nodded.  
        "But  
not.. actively.. When she refused to stop seeing  
and working with  
me, he *used* it to his own advantage..  
Together we wiped out most of his competition - she lead me  
to them, to catch them in the act, and I'd arrest them. He  
gave her the information.. As long as I was useful to him  
in some way he didn't try to stop her being with me. But  
then, she over heard.. something she was not meant too. It  
seems.. we did the unforgivable, we inadvertently busted  
one of his operations up. He didn't discuss his operations  
with her and she didn't know about that one or she would  
have kept me well clear of it.. As she had others she was  
aware of."  
        "So.. she did know  
what he was up to?"  
        Fraser  
nodded.  
        "She  
told me things.. . So many things.. We talked..  
all day.. Well,  
actually. She talked, I just listened..  
Shocked to the core."  
        "And then you went  
to bed with her."  
        "Yes."  
        "Sometimes  
I question your sanity."  
        "The  
information she gave me that day could have put  
her brother and  
his syndicate away for the rest of their  
sorry lives.. .She warned me about his revenge.. How he was  
setting  
the both of us up - along with his last enemy.. To  
take care of us all in one fell swoop.. How she was going  
back to get enough evidence to turn the tables on him.. The  
evidence  
to pin all the things she'd told me about on him.  
And I asked why she was doing it.. She could have just  
disappeared and saved herself.. And she hit me we something  
and  
said I was so thick.. The next thing.. well.. She  
uh..*showed* me why she did it."  
        "Uh-hu.. She's  
right, sometimes you can be quite  
thick."  
        Fraser smiled faintly.  
        "I might have  
been a fool not to see it earlier.. But  
I was smart enough to realise  
that.. what she knew would be  
worth to the Justice Department.  
She was going to get the  
evidence and I was going to use it make a deal with them in  
return for her evidence and testimony to put the worst of  
her brothers syndicate away."  
        "And you blew it."  
        "I.. couldn't  
tell Dante.. The mood he was in he would  
have arrested her on the  
spot.. And I realised that if we  
were ever to.. get past that.. unintentional betrayal.. . I  
couldn't  
be involved.. I tracked my father down and dumped  
it in his lap. And by the time I got back.. The trap had  
snapped shut around me.. I was home five minutes.. Just  
enough time to find Dante's note.. Telling me he'd gone..  
and why.. When the door was kicked in and I was dragged out  
in  
cuffs under arrest.. I found out she.. vanished ..  
That no one had seen her.. since the day she came to me.  
Which made no sense, because it took me over a month to  
catch up with my father and almost another to return.. "  
        "She  
got caught.. "  
        "They  
killed her.. I apparently learned that fact in  
prison."  
        "Prison?! They sent  
you to prison?!"  
        "I  
was framed and set up by a master and sent to prison  
and it took  
three months for my Father and Dante working  
together to get me out."  
        Ray pulled over due to  
the fact that the turn the  
conversation had taken was making it  
dangerous to stay on  
the road..  
        "You spent three  
months in prison?!"  
        "Most  
of it in solitary confinement and the infirmary."  
        "I  
don't think I want to know why."  
        "I  
was.. pack raped by a group of men who were sent  
there as a result  
of both my father and I arresting them."  
        "G-d  
Benni."  
        "It  
happened the day I arrived.. I should have been  
segregated.. I  
wasn't until after it happened.. I was sent  
from the infirmary  
to solitary.. and back to the infirmary  
after I became catatonic.. I don't.. remember any of it..  
Though..  
I did.. discuss it.. under hypnosis once. Dante  
wanted to get the names of the men.. who raped me to follow  
it  
up."  
        "So you don't remember  
a single thing about it?"  
        "It  
was.. the only way I could deal with an extremely  
traumatic situation.  
Block it out entirely. Even then.. I  
was a nervous wreck for months. Dante took me to his new  
post and helped me to recover.. To regain my shattered  
confidence.. That was when he became my official partner.  
It took.. a year for our relationship to.. begin again..  
but it was never the same.. and even now.. there are  
certain things he just won't do.. out of fear of how I'll  
react. That's why he rejected me after my father got him  
exiled."  
        "He thinks it'd  
remind you of what happened in the  
prison?"  
        Fraser nodded.  
        "He  
didn't *know* though he suspected it at first. I  
think I said or  
did something in my sleep.. That's when  
Dante arranged for me to be hypnotised and it all came out,  
during the hypnosis session. Including the fact she was  
dead. Her body has never been found and I never knew..  
exactly who killed her, or who took great delight in  
informing me of the fact. It was .. then.. that I lost all  
hope..  
And became catatonic.. Gaining my freedom hinged on  
my father making  
contact with her and getting the evidence  
from her.. Protecting her till they were brought to trial."  
        "Or so you thought.  
He and Dante seemed to have done it  
without her."  
        "I don't know how  
they did it. I asked, they always  
said, don't ask. I gather..it  
involved some less than legal  
actions on Dante's part. That's how my father eventually got  
Dante  
exiled, by reporting exactly how Dante got some of  
that evidence.."  
        "Lovely, the man  
got you out, helps you rebuild your  
life and career and your father  
shows his gratitude for the  
help by messing up your relationship."  
        Fraser's father popped  
up, leaning on the back of the  
seats.  
        "I already admitted  
that it might have been a mistake  
to act without getting the story  
from you first."  
        "It wasn't because  
of our relationship, though he was  
less than pleased about it. It  
was all due to a  
misunderstanding."  
        "The sort that involved  
bruises Dante gave you, I bet."  
        "Well  
yes.. Dante was teaching me self defence. I  
didn't take it seriously,  
till he changed his strategy,  
sometimes he didn't pull his blows, or I'd forget how to  
take a fall safely and I'd end up covered with bruises.  
Someone, I don't know who started spreading rumours that I  
got my bruises another way, my father didn't bother talking  
to me to find out the whole story, he just reacted."  
        "But you worked  
things out with him, didn't you?"  
        "It  
took three years. I wanted nothing to do with him  
after I found  
out who had Dante exiled. Then one night we  
ended up in the same bar when a fight broke out, and he saw  
me defend myself in a way he'd never seen me do it before -  
but he was familiar with that particular style of fighting.  
He worked out that Dante had been teaching me self defence,  
made a few enquires, realised he made a mistake and  
apologised for it. In his own way."  
        "Uh-hu."  
        "He needed Buck's  
help to do it.. Because I refused to  
have any dealings with him.."  
        "I'm not surprised."  
        "Why don't  
you tell him how we did it? That'd give him  
a real laugh."  
        "And it's.. quite  
a funny story."  
        "Yeah..  
Well, I really don't have the time for it. I  
should'na stopped for  
you in the first place, I'm working on  
an important murder case,  
and I gotta explain all the  
expenses I've racked up trying to get somewhere on it. Welsh  
is  
gonna kill me for being late as it is. If I'm lucky the  
leads I got today will get me off the hook.. But if I don't  
get there soon, he isn't going to give me the chance to  
justify things. He's just gonna tear strips offa me."  
        Fraser unbuckled.  
        "I just wanted to  
tell you - to stay away and keep your  
emissaries away. I don't need  
the aggravation sending them  
causes."  
        "Beating, the word  
is beating, not aggravation," Fraser  
Snr said.  
        "It won't happen  
again.. Just give me your word you'll  
let me know when he leaves.  
I miss having you around,  
irritating the hell out of me and I really don't give a damn  
what  
anyone thinks. Or what *you* might be thinking at any  
given time. You are what you are and I won't hold it against  
you."  
        "I still think that.."  
        Ray's hand flew  
to his belt buckle, unclipping it and  
Fraser suddenly found his  
filter mask tugged down, and Ray's  
lips on his. His eyes almost  
bugged out of his head, and he  
stiffened for a time before his body betrayed him and he  
found himself wrapping a hand around the back of Ray's  
skull, kissing Ray back, a little hesitantly at first then  
with increasing passion.  
        It was Ray who broke  
it up, pulling away gasping for  
breath to look at Fraser wide eyed.  
Fraser snapped the mask  
back into place as he felt the overwhelming urge to sneeze.  
        "Well, well, that  
was a real surprise," Fraser Snr  
drawled.  
        "When he leaves,  
you call me," Ray said when he caught  
his breath.  
        "I.. I.. D.. Does  
that mean..???"  
        "I  
dunno what it means, I just.. Felt like doing that,  
O.K. It doesn't  
mean I wanna go to bed with you.. I just..  
Want you to know.. I don't.. find the idea of you wishing  
that I would, go to bed with you, totally repugnant."  
        The look Fraser gave  
him was hot enough to set off a  
heat sensitive fire alarm.  
        "Get out of the  
car before you make a fool out of  
yourself, Benton." His father  
ordered.  
        "I don't want to  
loose the best friend I ever had, O.K.  
I ain't gonna sleep with  
you.. Just so long as you can  
accept that, then I can accept that you're attracted to me."  
        Fraser nodded and climbed  
out.  
        "I'll  
call you."  
        Then  
he closed the door and walked away.  
        =Perhaps  
sooner than you think= Fraser thought.  
  
                  
*~~~~~~~~~~*ooOO0=@=0OOoo*~~~~~~~~~~*  
  
                                        Part  
Four  
                                  
*ooOO0=@=0OOoo*  
  
        Fraser sat in the park  
watching birds pecking at the  
grass and strutting their stuff in  
mating dances. Well he  
wasn't really watching them, he just appeared to be  
extremely interested in their avian activities, his thoughts  
though  
were elsewhere. To be accurate his thoughts were on  
Ray and what happened in the car, and he contradiction  
between Ray's action and his words and also on Dante.  
        To be perfectly honest  
he had once thought he was in  
love with Dante, now he wasn't sure.  
He'd been young,  
inexperienced with a bad case of Hero worship and rampaging  
hormones. Now he was older and wiser, he knew what love was,  
Victoria  
taught him that. Love was more than the desire to  
share your body with someone, it was caring, it was a  
desperate yearning to be with the one you loved, in more  
than the physical sense.  
        He was happy with Dante,  
their relationship was better  
than it had been, Dante no longer  
tried to hide the fact  
they had a relationship. He wasn't afraid to show the world  
they had a relationship, he treated him like an equal,  
instead of someone who had to be nurtured and clucked over.  
Oh, he still clucked occasionally. But there was also a side  
to  
him that disturbed Fraser, while he'd learned to handle  
Dante's occasional jealous snit, and enjoyed the making up  
part of the process, Dante's anger scared him.  
        He remembered how some  
of his self defence lessons had  
come during times when Dante had  
been seething over some  
woman flirting with him. Not that he ever responded to their  
advances.  
At those times, Dante didn't pull his blows,  
they'd come hard and fast, delivering pain, leaving livid  
bruises. On the other hand, he hadn't really taken Dante's  
lessons seriously until Dante stopped pulling his blows.  
        He'd learned his lessons  
well, learning how to block,  
avoid and defend himself against such  
blows. But now Dante  
didn't have a way of venting his anger over perceived  
betrayals. At least when they were working out together,  
even if he'd blocked and avoided every blow, Dante had still  
been  
able to vent in the attempt to land a blow or two, and  
lessons that started out with a scowl often ended with a  
smile, and praise for his improvements.  
        Now, Dante just exploded.  
He wondered how Dante would  
react if he knew about his meeting with  
Ray. Well, he didn't  
have to wonder, he knew Dante would explode,  
but how would  
he react if he knew Ray had kissed him, that he'd returned  
that kiss and wished it would never end.  
        The answer was that he  
would probably resort to  
physical violence and that was something  
Fraser didn't want  
to think about it and so his thoughts turned to what  
happened with Ray again instead.  
        Ray's actions said one  
thing, while he said something  
completely different. And it wasn't  
just happened in the  
hear and *now*, the same thing had happened in the past.  
There were times he could have sworn Ray was attracted to  
him. Like the day he'd broken his wrist.  
        For a brief moment while  
he'd been holding Ray he could  
have sworn he'd felt the tell tale  
evidence that his touch  
had turned Ray on. But the pain, and worry for his mother no  
doubt  
had dealt with that. But there were other times, Ray  
was a natural touchie feelie kind of guy, but before he'd  
ended his association with him, Ray had seemed to be  
touching him all the time. An arm draped over his shoulder  
here, a hand on his arm, standing close enough that Fraser  
could feel the heat of his body, feel his breath against his  
skin  
and smell the scents of the various toiletries Ray  
wore.  
        Those were the times  
Fraser found himself thinking of  
home, particularly the long cold  
winters, the ice, snow and  
winds with high chill factors. Because Ray made his pulse  
race and his temperature rise when he invaded his personal  
space in that special way of his. And all those times Ray  
had ended up grubby and stripped in front of him, to shower,  
without  
a second thought. He always ended up turning down  
the offer to go in after him because he knew that Ray  
wouldn't think twice about staying around, tending to all  
those other things one did in bathrooms. If he'd stripped in  
front  
of Ray, the Italiao-American wouldn't have remained  
ignorant about where his tastes lay for long.  
        But Ray had said he wasn't  
interested in the sort of  
relationship he was. Oh, on an unconscious  
level, Ray might  
find him attractive, but he obviously had no conscious  
desire to purse anything but friendship. And after that  
kiss, well.. Perhaps leaving was the right thing to do.  
        But leaving lead to the  
possibility of spending the  
rest of his life alone. He knew that,  
and once he could  
possibly have accepted it. He'd gotten used to being alone.  
Then Ray had come along. Worse, Dante had reminded him how  
good it felt to be in a steady intimate sexual relationship.  
        Fraser  
sighed, his thoughts going around in circles. He  
wanted Ray, but  
he couldn't have Ray. He had Dante, but the  
only thing that relationship had going for it was passion.  
The sex was great, but there was nothing else to it. But  
then again, he'd been so sure that it would end when Dante  
left that he never really tried to make anything else out of  
it.  
Which meant he had no one but himself to blame for it.  
        Perhaps what he needed  
to do was stop pining over a man  
he couldn't have, and work to improve  
the relationship with  
the man he had.  
  
                        *~~~~~~~~~~*=@=*~~~~~~~~~~*  
  
        Welsh was about to bite  
into the sandwich Vecchio's  
late arrival had given him time to prepare,  
but interrupted  
the eating of, when he clearly heard a loud wail from  
outside the building. A wail that sounded like it came from  
Vecchio. He set the sandwich down and moved to his window  
opening it to look down at the street below.  
        There he saw Vecchio  
by his car, being rapidly  
surrounded by people. The Italiao-American  
looked like he  
was about to hyperventilate. Someone asked him a question  
and he started pointing and gesturing at his car in a highly  
agitated  
state.  
        Welsh left the office  
and hurried down to the street  
level moving around the crowd onto  
the road intending to  
circle around the car. He stopped dead on the road staring  
at the side of Ray's car. Both tires that he could see had  
been slashed and someone had taken a sharp implement to the  
paint work and most likely a boot to the body. It was full  
of dents and scored clear through to the metal with deep  
grooves.  
        That was more than enough  
to catch attention but what  
really grabbed and held Welsh's attention  
was the fact that  
there was more than dents and deep grooves in the paint  
work, there was also a message carved into the side of the  
car's fender. He shuffled along and squatted down, pulling  
out his note book and wrote it down.  
        Once he had it down,  
word for word, he moved around the  
car and shouldered his way to  
Ray's side. The damage to the  
other side of the car was no where near as extensive as the  
other, there was just one big deep groove. He dispatched  
everyone hovering around and then showed Ray the message  
he'd found.  
        "Mean anything to  
you?"  
        Ray took  
the note pad and looked at it. It was a  
message in Italian.  
        "Where did you..?"  
        "What does  
it say?"  
        "Next  
time it'll be your face, faggot."  
        Welsh  
wrote that down.  
        "Take  
a deep breath, Vecchio, good, now take another  
one.. That's it now  
count to a hundred."  
        "A hundred?"  
        "A hundred,  
and take a deep breath every ten seconds.  
        "I'm  
calm already where did you get that?" He asked  
then turned  
and peered at and through the windows.  
        It wasn't written on  
any of the car's windows. He  
looked at the trunk and hood. Nothing  
there. Ray raced  
around the car and stopped dead in the middle of the road.  
He turned white, then red and looked ready to explode. Then  
he surprised Welsh by taking a deep breath, moving back  
around the car, muttering, "99.. 98.. 97.. 96.. 95.." and so  
on under his breath and walked to the stairs where he sat  
down and continued counting and deep breathing with his  
hands clenched into fists. His hands clenched and  
unclenched, those long fingers unfurling and curling back up  
into  
a fist.  
        When he reached one,  
he started counting back the other  
way. Welsh climbed the steps  
and called for another officer  
and pulled out his note pad writing a note. Ripping it away  
he handed it to the officer and dispatched it before he  
moved to sit near Ray and watch him.  
        Ray reached a hundred  
and kept going. He was nearing  
590 when one of the forensic teams  
descend on the car with  
their kit and started snapping photos and dusting it down  
for prints. Somewhere around 1005 Ray jumped up to his feet  
and stomped into and through the building, Welsh hot on his  
tail.  
        Ray's first stop was  
the first available phone he could  
find. He called the consulate  
to ask if Fraser had returned  
that afternoon. Welsh could tell that Ray didn't like the  
answer. His response to it was to start ringing hospitals  
and medical centers.  
          
                        *~~~~~~~~~~*=@=*~~~~~~~~~~*  
  
        Dante returned to his  
apartment, to find the lights  
down low and the table set with candles.  
In fact there were  
candles just about everywhere. He stomped through the lounge  
and  
dinning area blowing out candles. When Fraser stepped  
into the room, the smile of welcome on his face vanished,  
and the Mountie felt the urge to duck back out of the room  
and try to leave the apartment. By the looks of things Dante  
was  
in a foul mood.  
        But the masochist in  
Fraser (what you haven't seen  
Victoria's Secret) made him stay where  
he was, to watch the  
seething man approach. He prepared to block or avoid a blow,  
but  
Dante surprised him.  
        "Where were you  
this afternoon?"  
        "I..uh.."  
        "Do you think  
that because we have a personal  
relationship that it gives a licence  
to do as you will?"  
        "No..  
I.. "  
        "Can  
spend the next week on Sentry duty."  
        =All  
I'll do is get Turnbull into trouble if I mention  
that I did call  
the consulate and leave a message that I  
wasn't returning=  
        Dante stomped off and  
Fraser relaxed.  
        "And  
get rid of the candles, don't you know they're a  
fire hazard."  
        Fraser started collecting  
the candles, thinking so much  
for trying to inject a little romance  
into their  
relationship.  
        "And get your damned  
wolf off the bed, he's shedding."  
        Fraser  
sighed and his breath caught as he heard  
something crash, and dropped  
the collected candles on the  
table and rushed out into the hall. Deifenbaker bounded out  
of the bedroom and down the hall to the lounge. Fraser  
watched him disappear, then moved onto the bedroom, peering  
around the door way. Dante sat on the edge of the bed by the  
bedside  
table. The cut glass lamp that usually sat on that  
bedside table lay on the floor in a hundred one pieces.  
Dante on his part was holding his head, his finger's  
massaging his temples and staring at the debris. Fraser  
noticed a vein pounding away in a base relief on his temples  
and  
quietly backed off. Perhaps taking Deifenbaker for a  
walk, a long walk, would be a good idea.  
  
                        *~~~~~~~~~~*=@=*~~~~~~~~~~*  
  
        Ray drove through the  
streets at high speed ignoring  
half the road rules and narrowly  
avoided two collisions  
speeding through intersections as he headed for the  
hospital. He brought the car to a rubber burning stop, his  
foot jamming down on the brake. When the car came to a  
complete stop, he spun in the seat, looking back down the  
street.  
        When his brain registered  
the fact his eyes hadn't  
deceived him, he parked the car, jumping  
out to call out to  
the man walking with the white wolf a block away. When the  
man stopped, turning to look back. Ray slammed the car door  
closed and marched off down the street.  
        Fraser stood under the  
street light with Deif sitting  
at his heels tail thumping the pavement  
as they watched Ray  
stalk up the street. The moment the cop reached them his  
hands slammed into Fraser's chest, sending him staggering  
back two or three steps.  
        "Where have you  
been all afternoon?!" Ray yelled at  
him.          
        Deif growled moving between  
him and the Mountie.  
        "Why?"  
        Ray spun with an  
angry follow me gesture stalking back  
up the street. Fraser followed  
him, rubbing at his chest as  
he went. He was sure he was going to have two bruises in the  
form  
of Ray's hands on his chest the next day such was the  
force of Ray's angry move.  
        He watched the angry  
man move around the side of the  
car and rip away a sheet of plastic  
that was taped down over  
the side rear fender. As he moved around  
the side of the  
car, he saw the length of the car was covered with plastic  
sheets and tape. When he looked at the uncovered section he  
saw why. The deep grooves in the paint work were clearly  
evident even in the dwindling light, and so were the words  
carved into the side of the car.  
        He looked to Ray.  
        "What does it say?"  
        "Next time  
it's your face, Faggot."  
        Fraser's  
eyes widened.  
        "Someone  
did that to my car after I saw you.. I was in  
the station house  
for maybe.. half an hour, forty five  
minutes. They slashed up the tyres on this side, along with  
the paint work and.."  
        He ripped off another  
sheet of plastic on the door to  
show the deep dents there.  
        "Put the boot in.  
And after I saw that message, I was  
worried about your safety. I  
tried tracking you down, but  
you didn't go back to the consulate.. They told me the  
Inspector went looking for you when you didn't turn up and  
came back in a foul mood.."  
        "He put me on Sentry  
duty for a week for it."  
        "That's  
all?"  
        "I  
was expected quite a different reaction.. He *is* in  
a foul mood.  
That's why I decided to take Deif for a walk.  
To give him a chance to cool down."  
        Ray taped the sheets  
back in place.  
        "Get  
in."  
        "I.."  
        "You got something  
better to do?"  
        After  
a few moments Fraser moved around the car and Ray  
climbed in, leaning  
across the car to open the door for  
Fraser. He sat back watching Fraser push the seat forward  
for Deifenbaker and watched the Wolf leap in to settle down  
on the back seat with a happy look on his furry face. Fraser  
pushed  
the seat back up and climbed in, belting up as Ray  
started the Riv.  
        "I was heading for  
the hospital when I saw you, they've  
got a John Doe in who fits  
your general description. Someone  
beat him up bad and took a knife  
to him."  
        "You thought it  
was me."  
        Ray  
nodded as he turned to look over the street before  
he pulled away  
from the curb.  
        "What was I supposed  
to think after finding that  
message gouged into the side of the  
car when everyone I  
calls says they haven't seen you?"  
        "I went to the park..  
To think.. Until it started  
raining, I didn't realise how much time  
had passed. And I  
was soaked through before I got to shelter so I went home to  
change  
into dry clothes."  
        "Home being his  
place now?"  
        Fraser  
nodded.  
        "I  
didn't see the point in returning to the consulate  
at that time..  
I rang in and asked Turnbull to pass a  
message on.."  
        "Well it wasn't  
Turnbull I spoke too. He probably  
forgot to pass the message on."  
        "Oh, no.. He's become  
incredibly efficient since Dante  
took over."  
        "He has?"  
        "Ever since he made  
a mistake that infuriated Dante. He  
called Turnbull in. I could  
hear him, yelling at him, and  
when it was over Turnbull scuttled out as white as a sheet  
and Dante needed a new desk because he broke the one he had  
in two."  
        "Now that would  
be intimidating."  
        "I  
saw him break a pool table in two once."  
        "Now  
that's impressive."  
        "I'm  
sure the fact it was infested with termites  
helped."  
        Ray chuckled at that.  
        "But I was  
talking about Turnbull.. He tries to avoid  
Dante whenever possible,  
that means double and triple  
checking everything he does to make sure he hasn't made any  
mistakes.. And he passes messages on to me to pass on to  
Dante, or if I'm not around, he drops notes on Dante's desk  
when he's out of the room rather than personally delivering  
the messages."  
        "I bet that irritates  
Dante."  
        "Sometimes.  
I'll have to remember to leave early and  
remove the note from his  
desk before he sees it."  
        "Do you mind if  
I ask.. a personal question? I've seen  
Dante.."  
        "You have?"  
        "In the park  
with you.. Ma called Him Adonis, the name  
fits.. He must make women  
drool where ever he goes."  
        "They tend to walk  
into things because they're so busy  
watching him that they're not  
watching where they're going."  
        "I  
can understand you finding him attractive.. If I  
shared your tastes,  
I'd find him attractive."  
        "What is the question?"  
        "Why me? I  
mean that *God* puts me in the shade."  
        Fraser  
opened his mouth to answer, and felt the tickle  
in his nose that  
was the precursor to a sneeze and  
automatically reached for his filter mask. He only  
remembered that he'd left it behind in the bedroom when he  
didn't find it attached to his belt.  
        "Stop the car!"  
        "What?"  
        Fraser grabbed at  
his nose, pinching it as that tickle  
became the full blown urge  
to sneeze.  
        "Stop the car, now!"  
        Ray stopped the  
car and Fraser fumbled with the belt  
while fighting the urge to  
sneeze. Ray reached across to  
unclip his belt. Fraser threw the door open and jumped out  
loosing the battle and sneezed.  
        Ray sighed.  
        Fraser wound the window  
down and closed the door before  
he moved to the foot path. Ray parked  
the car while Fraser  
let out another sneeze or two. Climbing out he leaned on the  
roof  
and looked at Fraser as Fraser pinched his nose and  
drew in deep breaths through his mouth. There were no more  
sneezes.  
        "Where's your mask?"  
        "I left it  
behind.. In the bedroom after I got  
changed.. That's where Dante  
was.."  
        "Are you through  
sneezing now?"  
        Fraser  
nodded.  
        "I  
think so."  
        Ray  
looked around.  
        "It's  
a valid question that you asked.. It's one of  
things I was thinking  
about today."  
        "Oh.. Well, do you  
think you can get back into the car  
before you answer it."  
        "I don't think so."  
        Rays hand slipped  
under his coat, snaking around to  
pull out his gun as he kept an  
eye on the group of toughs  
who were heading their way. He kept the gun out of sight,  
preferring to avoid a confrontation.  
        "This isn't the  
best place to have a conversation,  
Fraser."  
        "Something in your  
car keeps setting me off, I don't  
have my filter, if I get back  
into your car I could have a  
violent sneezing fit."  
        "Yeah, well.."  
        He watched one of  
those toughs, flicking a knife open  
there was no doubt in his mind  
they saw them as easy prey.  
        "You're gonna have  
a lot more than that to worry about  
if you don't get in the car  
now, Benni," he said with a jerk  
of his head.  
        Fraser looked around,  
and saw the group moving in. This  
time he didn't argue the point.  
He and Ray both climbed into  
the car. Ray didn't wait for him to  
belt up, he swung the  
car into a tight u-turn and sped away. Fraser looked back  
and winced when he saw one of the group hurl a bottle that  
hit the center of the back window with an unerring accuracy  
that was frightening. He winced as the window fractured.  
        "Great, just great..  
What else can happen to my car  
today?" Ray asked looking around.  
        Fraser looked around  
in time to see the car enter an  
intersection at the same time as  
a car coming from the  
right. One hand flew to the dash while the other ripped the  
seat belt over his body.  
        "Look out!"  
        His warning came  
too late. No sooner had he clipped the  
belt into place than Ray's  
desperate attempt to avoid the  
imminent crash failed. He spun the wheel hard to the left  
and the screech of brakes was followed by the impact of the  
car that had been crossing colliding with them. Fraser's cry  
rang  
through the car as pain swept over him coming from  
three different places at once. The view of the world  
outside blurred and swung crazily as the car tilted onto two  
tyres  
and wavered there for a few sickening moments then the  
car which  
collided with them was reversing and jamming on  
the park break. Door's opened and slammed and as the car  
rocked, and started to tip, then the occupants of the other  
car, were there jumping up and grabbing at the back of the  
car and the handle of the door. The extra weight tipped the  
balance and the Riv slammed back down on all four tyres and  
shuddered. Totally white faced with shock Fraser looked  
around and almost cried out in pain again as he turned his  
head sending pain lancing through him.  
        His view of the world  
swam in and out of focus. He  
heard whimpering from Deif in the back  
of the car, saw Ray  
slumped against the door, at an awkward angle as if he'd  
flopped there, and he probably had. He was out cold, his  
clothes covered in sliver's of glass and blood ran down his  
face, his breathing harsh and laboured. As he focused on Ray  
the  
trickle of blood down his face ended as Ray lost his  
battle to breathe. Fraser's arm rose and he tried to reach  
out toward him but the move caused him so much pain he  
aborted it. And watched a stranger lean on the side of the  
car to look through the now non existent window.  
        "Help him,"  
he said weakly, wrapping his arms around  
his own ribs at the pain  
it brought him.  
        He watched the stranger  
reach out to touch Ray's face  
then his throat.  
        Fraser became aware of  
a hand on his shoulder and a  
voice asking him questions, and cried  
out as pain lanced  
through his shoulder and neck. The world spun and then the  
pain and consciousness faded away.  
  
                  
*~~~~~~~~~~*ooOO0=@=0OOoo*~~~~~~~~~~*  
  
                                        Part  
Five  
                                  
*ooOO0=@=0OOoo*  
  
        Fraser sat propped up  
in his bed, his neck encased in a  
brace his arm in a sling, a plaster  
cast that ran from  
shoulder to wrist, and down to his waist and covered in  
signatures, lip stick marks and commentary. He smiled weakly  
when  
he saw Dante's head poke around the door frame to his  
private room. Seeing that Fraser was awake Dante smiled and  
slipped into the room to cross to Fraser's bedside.  
        "How are you feeling?"  
        Fraser tried to  
speak but his mouth was so dry that all  
that came out was a croak.  
Dante looked around then poured  
him a glass of water, popped a bendy straw from the  
collection on the tray and held it up to Fraser's mouth.  
Fraser drank giving him a grateful look.  
        "Better?" He  
asked as he lowered the half empty glass.  
        "Much."  
        "Do you know  
how long you've been here?"  
        "Several  
days."  
        "Four.  
Every time I came in you were either sedated or  
sleeping. It gave  
me a lot of time to think."  
        "About what?"  
        "You - *us*."  
        "Oh."  
        =Here it comes..  
The I love you but I don't think we  
should see each other any more  
speech=  
        "And I kept thinking  
*why*.. It's insane.. You know all  
my bad habits, about my temper  
and jealousy.. But you still  
wanted to pursue the relationship."  
        Fraser watched Dante  
pull a walkman out of one of his  
jackets deep pockets.  
        "I heard this..  
On the radio.. And it.. Summed up how I  
felt."  
        He hit play and watched  
Fraser.  
          
Baby I've been watching you          
(Baby I've been watching you)  
watching everything you do  
And I just can't help but feeling  
someone else is stealing you away from me  
  
        Fraser's eyes widened.  
  
I see it written in your eyes  
and you confirm it with your lies  
though the web you weave can hold me  
I would rather that you told me  
where you want to be  
  
        He hit stop.  
        "So  
tell me.. Am I just being a paranoid and possessive  
jerk again,  
or is there someone else you'd rather be with."  
        =Ray=  
        "Because I don't  
know what to think any more.. I  
thought you just decided to take  
Deif for a walk to give me  
a chance to cool down.. But you didn't come back.. And then,  
I get  
a call from the consulate.. Telling me you were  
involved in a car accident. And when I get hold of the  
accident report.. I find out it's the car of one Raymond  
Vecchio.. And that was the name of the guy who's mother  
pounced in the park.. And you told me there was nothing  
going on there, that you hadn't even seen him in months."  
        "You've  
seen the accident report?! You know what  
happened to him!"  
        Dante bit his lip and  
looked away.  
        "Dante..  
If you know something tell me. I keep asking  
and no body is giving  
me answers.."  
        "I'm sorry...."  
        =Nooo Don't say  
you're sorry.. Don't tell me he's  
dead.=  
        "He suffered massive  
chest injuries..and went into  
cardiac arrest on the scene."  
        Fraser stared into nothingness.  
        "The crash  
report says he wasn't wearing a seat beat..  
If he had been, it might  
have been a different story."  
        =If only I'd gotten back  
into the car sooner he would  
have had time to belt up.. He'd still  
be alive.=  
        Fraser felt Dante's hand  
stroking his arm heard him  
speaking but all he could think about  
was Ray until part of  
what Dante had to say sank in.  
        =He's leaving *now*!=  
        He looked at Dante.  
        =And I really don't  
have a choice now that Thatcher is  
back.. For some reason that woman  
doesn't like me.. Within 5  
minutes she had all my things packed  
and literally tossed  
out into the street, by Turnbull. Who I'm sure enjoyed being  
given  
that little task."  
        Dante stopped talking  
and started clucking, pulling a  
handkerchief out from a pocket to  
wipe at Fraser's face as  
tears ran down it with no conscious violation on Fraser's  
part. His hand flew up to catch Dante's.  
        "Don't go."  
        "I'm not going  
anywhere.. I'll stay as long as you want  
me to."  
        "Forever."  
        Dante just stared  
at him for what seemed the time  
period in question.  
        "I can't stay *here*  
in the states.. I have to go back  
home."          
        "Australia."  
        Dante looked around  
and stuck out his leg to drag the  
chair close enough to sit on it.  
        "It's not as bad  
as some people might lead you to  
believe.. It's true that the heat  
in summer can be  
incredible, but that's why God invented air-conditioners."  
        Fraser gave a weak tremulous  
smile.  
        "It's  
a glorious country and I've managed to visit  
every state over the  
years.. I'd love to show it to you. I  
used to hold the same post you have here at my consulate..  
Now I've been promoted.. My old post is still up for grabs..  
You  
could come with me.. As more than just my S.O. And you  
wouldn't be stuck behind a desk shuffling papers all day,  
s'cept in summer, when you'll be happy to do just that."  
        "You..want  
me.. to.. go back with you?"  
        "You  
could make me the second happiest man on Earth if  
you'll say you  
will."  
        "Only the second  
happiest? Who's the happiest man on  
Earth?"  
        "The one who won  
the 157,000,000 dollar jackpot in the  
lottery yesterday."  
        Fraser gave another tremulous  
smile, then broke down  
again.  
  
                        *~~~~~~~~~~*=@=*~~~~~~~~~~*  
  
        Have you ever seen one  
of those cartoons, where the  
character turns red, their eyes bug  
out and steam starts to  
spout from their ears? Well, at that particular time,  
Turnbull thought Inspector Meg Thatcher was doing a rather  
good impression of one of those characters as she faced  
Inspector Mc Intire - Otherwise known as Dante. And the  
reason that Inspector Thatcher was almost literally steaming  
had  
something to do with the piece of official paper work Mc  
Intire  
was holding up for her to see. Dante for his part was  
looking smugly  
satisfied. Turnbull started quietly backing  
up.  
        He didn't get far, Meg  
spun and stormed down the  
corridor, grabbing his arm and dragged  
him along, along the  
way.  
        "Where is Benton?"  
She hissed.  
        "In  
the hospital."  
        "Literally?"  
        He nodded. She hauled  
him into a side room.  
        "What  
is he doing there?"  
        "He  
was involved in a car accident."  
        Meg  
looked at a speck of fluff on his shoulder, then  
flicked it off.  
        "Find Vecchio."  
        "Er.. he was  
apparently involved too."  
        She  
closed her eyes pinching the bridge of her nose.  
        "Do  
you know what either of their conditions are?"  
        "Fraser  
has 3 fractured ribs, a broken arm, and severe  
whiplash."  
        "Vecchio?"  
        "I'm not aware  
of his condition, but Inspector Mc  
Intire did get his hands on the  
accident report, Ma'am."  
        "You  
cleared his desk off.. Did you.."  
        "I  
placed all the official papers in a file to sort  
through and file  
appropriately later, Ma'am."  
        "Find me that report."  
        "Yes, Ma'am.  
If I can ask, what was that paper about?"  
        "He's  
stealing Fraser away, he went right over my head  
to get him transferred  
to his consulate in Australia."  
        "What?! You can't  
let him get away with that, Ma'am."  
        "I  
don't intend to. Now find that accident report.. I  
want to know  
what Vecchio's condition is before that man  
gets through packing up Fraser's things and heads out, I  
want to know what Vecchio's condition is, which hospital  
he's at, and if you still have that picture you pulled from  
the security camera's and faxed me."  
        "Er.. No."  
        "No???"  
        "Er.. he walked  
in.. I had to get rid of it before he  
saw it.. and.. I fed it into  
the shedder."  
        She pinched the bridge  
of her nose again.  
        "The  
tapes?"  
        "Have  
been erased already, Ma'am."  
        "You  
realise that when you shredded that picture and  
didn't make sure  
the tape it came from was saved, you  
destroyed the evidence I could have used to prove he  
assaulted Fraser."  
        "Actually Ma'am,  
all it proved is that someone did it,  
it didn't show the actual  
assault."  
        "Everyone here knows  
that he did it.. And you would  
back me up if I filed a complaint  
on his behalf, wouldn't  
you Turnbull."          
        "Yes Ma'am. But  
couldn't you use the Fax I sent you.."  
        "Some  
idiot spilled coffee over it then tried to mop  
the mess up, end  
result, the ink was smeared everywhere and  
you couldn't tell what the Fax relayed."  
        "Oh dear.."  
        "Get the accident  
report, *now*."  
        Turnbull  
nodded, spun and raced away. By the time she  
reached her office  
and sat down in her chair to reach for  
the phone he was slipping into her office.  
        "That was fast."  
        He brought the report  
to the desk and set it before  
her.  
        "Find out whether  
he came in a cab or a rented vehicle,  
if it was the later, give  
it a flat tire or three."  
        Turnbull nodded spun  
on his heel and hurried away. She  
opened the report and began reading.  
        When Turnbull returned  
a few minutes later, he found  
her staring white faced at the report.  
        "Ma'am."  
        "He's dead."  
        "Ma'am?"  
        "Vecchio. He's  
dead."  
        She  
looked up.  
        "Has  
anyone visited Fraser yet?"  
        "We  
tried.. He was always sedated during visiting  
hours."  
        "Mc Intire?"  
        "Was visiting  
the hospital morning, noon and night  
Ma'am. I'm sure he's been able  
to talk with him."  
        "And Mc Intire saw  
this report.. Does he know about  
their relationship?"  
        "What relationship?"  
        She stared at him.  
        "Their partnership  
ended, Ma'am."  
        "Before  
or.."  
        "Before  
he arrived Ma'am. They had a fight about  
something. Fraser told  
us that if Detective Vecchio rang we  
were not to give him any information whatsoever unless it  
was directly related to his official duties."  
        "And they didn't  
sort it out."  
        "Fraser  
went into hospital due to his.."  
        "Allergy,  
yes.. it happened before I left.."  
        "He  
returned the day after you left, and reiterated his  
statement about  
the Detective. Then McIntire arrived.."  
        "And  
Vecchio never once showed his face around here in  
all that time?"  
        "Not even once."  
        She looked down  
at the report again.  
        "So  
what the hell was Fraser doing in his car if they  
were no longer  
associated?"  
        "I have no idea  
Ma'am.. But Fraser did go missing  
during the day.. After he left  
to attend to some errand and  
Inspector Mc Intire went looking for him and came back in  
one of his moods..."  
        "At what time?"  
        "Four O'clock."  
        "The accident  
was at 8."  
        "Vecchio  
rang in at a quarter to five asking if Fraser  
was in and Fraser  
rang in ten minutes later to say he was  
caught in the rain and had to go home, to change and  
wouldn't be back because his allergy was making him  
sensitive again."  
         "Did you take the  
call?"  
         "Yes  
Ma'am."  
         "Did  
he *sound* like he did before he had that  
sneezing fit here?"  
        Turnbull thought about  
it, then shook his head.  
        "No  
Ma'am."  
        "So  
he lied..He could have been with Vecchio and didn't  
want that big  
ape to find out.."  
        "That would make  
sense Ma'am.. Inspector Mc Intire  
always looked like he'd like to  
hit something whenever  
someone paid Fraser too much attention. And he threw two  
women out of the consulate *literally* after he caught them  
trying to flirt with him. Then he dragged Fraser into his  
office and yelled at him."  
        "What did he yell?"  
        Turnbull gave her  
a helpless shrug.  
        "I  
don't know he wasn't using any language I'm familiar  
with."  
        "Is that when Fraser  
got the bruises?"  
        "Er..  
No Ma'am. He got those on his day off."  
        "So  
you don't know for a *fact* that Mc Intire gave  
them to him, do  
you? You're just making a guess."  
        "Er.. Yes Ma'am..  
but.."  
        "Get  
out."  
        "But.."  
        "Now."  
        Turnbull began backing  
up and Meg reached for the phone  
and her Roladex. Flipping through  
to V for Vecchio she ran  
her finger down the card until she found the number listed  
as the household phone number and dialled it.  
        Turnbull exited the room  
and closed the door as she  
listened to the phone ring. Just when  
she was sure it was  
going to ring out, the phone was answered.  
        "Hello.. This is  
Inspector Thatcher, from the Canadian  
Consulate.. I just returned  
to Chicago and heard the news  
about Raymond. I was just ringing to extend my condolences  
and learn the funereal arrangements so that.."  
        Her eyes widened as the  
member of the Vecchio clan who  
answered cut in.  
          
                        *~~~~~~~~~~*=@=*~~~~~~~~~~*  
  
        Meg stepped into the  
ICU observation unit, to find  
Francesca standing before the observation  
window, her eyes  
glued on the deathly pale figure that lay corpse like on the  
bed  
in the intensive care room beyond. He was surrounded by  
an array of life support equipment, tubes and wire's  
sprouting from his still form. One look was all Meg needed  
to see that it would be impossible to enlist Raymond  
Vecchio's assistance to keep Fraser from leaving with that  
wretch Mc Intire.  
        He might have been revived,  
but by the looks of it, the  
only thing keeping him alive was the  
life support equipment  
that surrounded him.  
        Francesca looked around,  
her face pale, dark smudges  
under her eyes on her make up free face.  
        "Inspector Thatcher..  
I thought you left town."  
        Meg  
looked at Ray's still form again.  
        "I  
left to be with my father before.. he died."  
        "I'm  
sorry."  
        "He's  
at peace now."  
        "How..?"  
        "Cancer."  
        "Oh."  
        "How is he?"  
        Frannie drew in  
a deep shuddering breath shaking her  
head.  
        Meg reached out to lay  
a hand on her shoulder. Frannie  
wrapped her arms around herself.  
        "I keep expecting  
Fraser to walk in and then I remember  
that they stopped talking  
to each other, months ago.. over  
some stupid argument."  
        "What did they have  
a fight about?"  
        "There  
was this doctor.. Who.. er.. thought they were a  
couple..and even  
though they both took advantage of it  
later.. Ray ranted and raved about it.. he wasn't very happy  
about  
it.. And Benton was staying with us.. And he was  
taking Fraser to some appointment.. and came home, late at  
night without Benton.. He was stinking drunk.. And he said  
something about Benton being Gay. Benton never came back..  
Not even to get Deif.. Or thank us for looking after him..  
And I didn't believe it.. About him being Gay.."  
        "But now.."  
        "After Fraser  
took Dief, I heard Ray and my mother  
talking and they were talking  
about Benton.. He really is  
Gay.. My mother wanted to try and talk to Benton.. But Ray  
kept telling her to forget it and said it was a stupid idea  
in the first place because Benton had already made up his  
mind.. And that there was no point because he was going  
home."  
        "Home? You mean  
to Canada?"  
        Frannie  
nodded.  
        "I  
heard him say it twice. Benton told him he was going  
back to Canada."  
        =:So either Fraser lied  
to him, and Vecchio found out  
about it the night of the accident  
and Fraser being Fraser  
would have gotten into the car and tried to explain it..  
Which would explain what he was doing in the car if they  
weren't talking to each other. The wolf was involved, he was  
probably  
out walking it when Vecchio drove past and saw  
them...:=  
          
                        *~~~~~~~~~~*=@=*~~~~~~~~~~*  
  
        After she left the Intensive  
care ward, Meg went down  
to the reception to find out where Fraser  
was, and  
discovered that he had checked out early that morning. Meg  
spun and found a public phone with a pile of phone books and  
let  
her fingers do the walking. Five minutes later she was  
in a car speeding toward the airport where Fraser and Dante  
were waiting to board a flight for Australia.  
        As she jumped out of  
the car the last and final  
boarding call for their flight went out.  
As she raced into  
the airport and found out where the plane was boarding, it  
pulled away. When she reached the gate, all she could do was  
stand  
at the windows with the friends and family of  
passengers and watch as the plane lifted off the tarmac and  
rose into the sky that was as dark and gloomy as she felt.           
        He day was complete  
when she walked back to her car to  
find a parking ticket under the  
wiper.  
  
                        *~~~~~~~~~~*=@=*~~~~~~~~~~*  
          
        Fraser stepped out of  
the air-conditioned house with  
views of Terrigal Beach to die for.  
He was hit by a wave of  
heat and looked at the thermometer that lay under the door  
bell. 36 it said. It felt more like 100. He stepped back  
inside, grateful for the air-conditioning and returned to  
the bedroom to open Dante's wardrobe. There had to be  
something in it more suited to the weather he could wear.  
        He regretted doing it  
as he saw all the shirts with  
colourful patterns it contained and  
thought of Ray, who had  
a collection of just as colourful shirts. He closed the  
wardrobe sliding down the door pulling his legs up, wrapping  
his  
arms around them. His head fell to his knees and the  
tears he'd managed to hold back, till that moment, began to  
fall.  
  
                        *~~~~~~~~~~*=@=*~~~~~~~~~~*  
          
        Meg stood before the  
main window of her apartment  
nursing a hot cup of coffee staring  
out the window. The sky  
was as dark and overcast as the day Fraser left the country.  
She  
couldn't believe that he'd left without once contacting  
Ray's family, or visiting his bedside - the only explanation  
for  
it had to be because he didn't know that Vecchio was  
still alive, even if he was hanging on by a slender thread,  
kept alive by machines that preformed the tasks his damaged  
organs were no longer able to preform.  
        She mentally chided herself  
for letting that man enter  
her thoughts again. Fraser had fallen  
for that Earthbound  
god and left everything he knew behind of his own free will.  
He'd  
apparently cut all his ties with Vecchio, including his  
ties with  
the Detective's family and associates. It didn't  
seem likely that she'd ever learn why Fraser was in the car  
the night of the accident. It nagged at her though. There  
were so many things about the whole situation that just  
didn't make sense to her.  
        Sighing she finished  
her coffee and placed a phone call  
to the hospital where Ray's family  
kept a vigil over him.  
          
                        *~~~~~~~~~~*=@=*~~~~~~~~~~*  
          
        Ray opened his eyes,  
slowly focusing on the things  
around him. His eyes widened when  
he saw Meg sitting at his  
bedside in surgical scrubs, a mask and cap, she was reading  
a bodice ripper that was familiar to Ray. Frannie had been  
reading the same book whenever he woke up to find her at his  
bedside.  
        Ray made a gurgle around  
the tube down his throat. Meg  
looked up and put the book aside.  
        "Your family had  
found a house to rent close to the  
hospital, they're moving into  
it as we speak.. I happened to  
ring to ask how you were at the right  
time to be roped into  
sitting with you while they were busy moving in."  
        =Ah, that explains it..  
G-d I wish I could talk.=  
        Meg  
bent over and pulled out a bag.  
        "Your  
sister gave me this. It's your mail.. From both  
home and the precinct."  
        She opened the bag and  
pulled out a pile of envelopes  
with an elastic band around them.  
        "I'll read out the  
return addresses and you can give me  
the thumbs up if there are  
any there you want me to open so  
you can read them."  
        Then she began working  
her way through the collection.  
Ray gave her the thumbs up twice  
and she opened the letters  
and held them up where he could read them. The first one  
made the heart rate monitor beep faster. She was curious but  
when  
he made a wave she took it and folded it up to slip it  
back in the envelope and resumed going through the pile  
while he lay there seething.  
        The second one he gave  
the thumbs up to made him raise  
his arm to rip the letter away from  
her and scrunch it up.  
He tried to toss it away but it landed on the bed, in his  
lap as their wasn't much strength behind it. Meg collected  
it and smoothed the letter out before tucking it back into  
the envelope.  
        "Bad news I take  
it."  
        The scowl  
on his face was answer enough.  
        She  
went through the rest of the pile and set it aside.  
Out came five  
brown paper wrapped parcels. He looked  
interested in those. She read the return address on the  
first and he gave it the thumbs down. She set it aside and  
looked at the next. It was covered in not at this address,  
try this one stickers.  
        "This is covered  
in alternate addresses."  
        She  
found the return address and read it out he frowned  
not recalling  
it.  
        "The cancellation  
mark on this is several years old.  
This parcel must have been travelling  
around for years."  
        Curious  
he gave her the thumbs up and she opened the  
parcel. She found several  
bound documents and a letter. She  
held the letter up for him to read. He read the letter and  
made a gurgle and grimaced his arm moving over his ribs.  
        "May I?"  
        He gave a faint nod and  
she looked at the letter.  
        It  
was from someone within the FBI addressed to Raymond  
Vecchio thanking  
him for his letter expressing an interest  
in learning more about the art of building a profile of a  
suspect. And the date at the top showed it had been sent out  
almost  
a decade ago.  
        "It took a long  
time for this to reach you. Did you  
ever study profiling?"  
        Ray gave a faint shake  
of his head.  
        She  
looked at the text books that accompanied the  
letter and flipped  
through them her eyes widening when she  
realised what she had.  
        "Did you write to  
the man who *invented* profiling?  
These are case files from his  
records and guide to profiling  
that he wrote. It's covered in hand  
written notes."  
        Ray looked interested.  
She studied some of the notes  
and looked at the case files.  
        "The notes refer  
to the case files he included. Do you  
know how hard it is to get  
the FBI to share the secrets of  
profiling? They don't give that information out freely. Most  
likely  
to stop the sort of people they use it to catch from  
learning how to avoid being caught by a profiler."  
        He signalled at her and  
it took her a few moments to  
realise what he was trying to communicate.  
        "You want me to  
read it for you?"  
        He  
nodded.  
        She turned to the first  
page and started reading. Six  
pages in she stopped when she looked  
up to see him fighting  
to stay awake. Marking the page with the letter she slipped  
the books back into the wrapping with the note and set it  
aside. He looked disappointed as he watched her slide the  
rest of the parcels and letters back into the bag. The bag  
went under the chair again minus the parcel she'd opened.  
        "Stop fighting it,  
Detective."  
        His  
hand made a few gestures and his frustration was  
clear.  
        "I'll be right back."  
        She left the room  
and if he could have sighed he would  
have. After listen to his sisters  
prattle on about things he  
had very little interest in for the last  
few days, Meg had  
been a breath of fresh air. And it was moments like this  
that he just wanted to rip out the tubes that kept him from  
being able to talk and was tempted to rip them out. But then  
he  
remembered how he'd tried to do just that the first time  
he'd come to his senses. They'd strapped him down and  
sedated him heavily.  
        He watched Meg return  
and when he saw what she had in  
her hands his eyes lit up. She gave  
him a little smile then  
stood by his bedside, helping him to hold the pen that she'd  
collected  
from her briefcase. Then she held the note pad  
she'd brought along up and with an effort he started  
writing.  
        He lost the pen, but  
she retrieved it, every single  
time he dropped it. Finally he let  
his hand fall to the bed,  
and closed his eyes letting sleep over  
take him.  
        Meg looked at the pad,  
covered in the big shaky letters  
that looked like they were made  
by a pre-school child.  
        -Thank-you. X 1000  
        XXXXXXXXOOXX-  
        She  
chuckled as she sat and flipped to the next page  
and made a note  
to visit a stationary store and get some  
supplies the next day. Then she set the pad and pen aside  
and picked up Frannie's bodice ripper to start reading  
again.  
  
                  
*~~~~~~~~~~*ooOO0=@=0OOoo*~~~~~~~~~~*  
  
                                        Part  
Six  
                                  
*ooOO0=@=0OOoo*  
  
        Dante watched Fraser  
mope around the beach house, and  
sighed. All he seemed to do was  
lie in bed, or on the couch.  
He didn't need to be a mind reader  
to know that he was  
grieving for his friend. And the old spark of jealously that  
would  
have set him off in the past just smouldered away. He  
was certain there was more to it than just friendship the  
way Fraser was mourning the passing of this Vecchio was a  
clear sign of it. But he'd made certain promises, to trust  
Fraser more, to not let his jealousy get the better of him  
again and refused to let Fraser's mourning for a dead man  
get to him.  
        But the way Fraser moped  
around was getting to him on  
another level. He needed to visit a  
doctor for follow up  
treatment on his injuries but apart from keeping the  
appointment Dante had set up the day they arrived so that he  
could  
meet the Doctor and go over his medical records,  
Fraser hadn't bothered to return to the doctor and three  
messages from his surgery had been ignored.  
        He wondered how to snap  
Fraser out of it, but couldn't  
think of anything off hand.  
        "Benton."  
        Fraser slowly turned  
his whole body to look at him. His  
neck still gave him a lot of  
pain whenever he moved his  
head.  
        "I rang the Quarantine  
people and they said it's O.K to  
visit Deifenbaker while he's in  
quarantine."  
        For the first time since  
he'd sunk into his highly  
depressed state Fraser showed signs of  
animation.  
        "Deifenbaker's alive!"  
        "Well yes,  
didn't I mention that?"  
        "No!"  
        "Oh.. I'm sorry  
it must have slipped my mind."  
        "How  
badly was he hurt in the crash?"  
        "He  
got off lucky with bruises and shock. I arranged  
for him to be sent  
here as soon as the vent thought he was  
fit to travel. But the quarantine laws for animals like Deif  
are  
very strict. He's going to be in quarantine for some  
time."  
        "Can we go tomorrow?"  
        Dante nodded with  
a smile.  
        "Sure..  
I can get a copter from the heliport and have  
someone meet us with  
a car at the other end."  
        "There's a heliport  
near here? I haven't heard any  
copters."  
        "There's a heliport  
in west Gosford, you can hire a  
copter there. That's how I got you  
here from the airport,  
one of the people met us there, and we bundled you into the  
copter. I'm sure you'll enjoy your flight out a lot more  
than the flight in."          
        "I don't remember  
it."  
        "The  
Pain killers knocked you out on the flight in you  
were out cold...  
That's why I asked the doctor to prescribe  
something else."  
                  
                        *~~~~~~~~~~*=@=*~~~~~~~~~~*  
  
        Meg put the last of her  
days work aside and reached for  
her phone dialling her mother's  
number.  
        "It's me Meg.. How  
are you doing?" She asked when her  
mother answered.  
        She listened to her mother  
talk and assured her she was  
fine and an idea that came to her in  
the hospital returned.  
        "I was wondering..  
Do you still have that hand & wrist  
brace the nurse brought in for  
Dad?"  
  
                        *~~~~~~~~~~*=@=*~~~~~~~~~~*  
  
        Dante worked in the kitchen  
to prepare dinner after  
their return from the quarantine center  
where Deif was being  
tended. He jumped half out of his skin when  
he felt Fraser  
wrap his good arm around his waist and give him a light hug.  
        "Did  
I say thank-you?"  
        "4  
times already."  
        "What  
are you preparing?"  
        "Tossed  
Chicken Salad. We've got lettuce, cucumber,  
tomato, capsicum and  
onion here," he said pointing to a  
transparent green container  
with layers sliced and diced  
vegetables.  
        Its lid was set aside  
and there was a collection of  
spice bottles near it along with a  
bottle of vinegar and  
oil.  
        "I've just got do  
the chicken and make some dressing  
for it."  
        "You make your own."  
        "I had to play  
body guard to some Canadian VIP's  
daughter who's ex lives here with  
his daughter she taught me  
how to do it. She said there's nothing  
worse than a man who  
doesn't know his way around a kitchen."  
        He pointed to a shelf  
filled with cookbooks before he  
slipped out of the embrace to move  
to the refrigerator and  
fetched the barbecue chicken he'd collected on their way  
home along with the milk and bread.  
        "The exercise book  
is the recipe book she made for me."  
        Curious  
Fraser moved to the shelf and pulled it down.  
The book was dived  
into six sections, Easy Meals, Fancy  
Meals, Soup, Salads, Stews and Deserts. Flipping through it  
he found the recipe for chicken salad. Take one small onion,  
dump  
in a bowl of boiling water. Take five large lettuce  
leaves, slice them, take one large tomato dice it up, peel  
quarter and slice a cucumber. Take one capsicum get rid of  
the seeds slice and dice it. Take onion, peel, slice and  
dice. Take one barbecue chicken or roast left overs. Dice  
into bite sized chunks. Toss it all into a shaker sprinkle  
with a little garlic salt and chicken seasoning, splash with  
dressing  
base put lid on shake well and enjoy (serves two).  
        =Simple and easy to understand=  
        He flipped through  
and found a recipe for spaghetti  
bolognaise sauce.  
        Take One can of Campbell's  
spaghetti sauce, one small  
tin Capsicums, one small tin Champignons,  
one tin of peeled  
tomatoes (chop them to suit), one small tin corn and dump it  
all  
in a *Big* pot. Sprinkle with Italian herbs, a little  
parsley and garlic salt, bring to boil, then simmer,  
stirring occasionally till it smells so good you can't wait  
to eat it. (serves 4 - Tastes even better the next day)  
        "This is a very  
simple recipe book."  
        "She  
hates recipes books, she never measures anything,  
when I brought  
her one, she sat there going through it,  
saying, get real, get real, get real.. Then she tossed it on  
the  
fire."  
        "She wasn't very  
polite was she."  
        "She  
ran a farm & only went shopping once a month.  
Where ingredients  
were concerned if she couldn't keep it in  
a cupboard, or freeze it she didn't use it. The only  
vegetables she actually grew were salad vegetables for the  
summer. Everything else came in tins."  
        "Did you enjoy time  
there?"  
        "It  
was good to get out from behind a desk and back  
outside. Her ex  
was a horse breeder, she got his Australian  
property. There were over a hundred horses on the farm.  
Along with a dozen cows and chickens by the score. In summer  
I lived  
on milk-shakes and salads. And I had my pick of the  
horses to ride.. And yes I enjoyed it. Until I had to ask to  
be  
reassigned."  
        "Why?"  
        "The girl's mother  
kept making advances. I put with it  
until I'd trained the girl to  
defend herself. And wrote to  
her father complaining about her lack of self defence  
skills. She was sixteen and knew next to nothing about  
defending herself. But she was an extremely fit young lady,  
she had a lot of strength, and one hell of a kick.  
Especially after I started teaching her kick boxing," he  
said  
giving Fraser a grin.  
        "Kick boxing? I  
didn't know you studied kick boxing  
too."  
        "Didn't I mention  
I took that up too? One of the  
instructors at the martial arts center  
near the consulate  
where I work out said I'd make a hell of a kick boxer," then  
he chuckled, "when I introduced her to him and said, kick  
that  
bag Didi, and she put a hole through it. He started  
raving about her."  
        "She put a hole  
through a sand bag."  
        "Like  
I said, she had one hell of a kick and I'd  
already taught her the  
basics. She took to kick boxing like  
a duck to water, even though  
she studied other forms of  
martial arts that was always her favourite. She went on to  
take the title of Female kickbox champion a few years later  
and there were a team of Hollywood producers who chased her  
around waving contracts who wanted to turn her into a  
martial arts movie goddess."  
        Fraser chuckled.  
        "Not that I blame  
them.. I remember one time she joined  
me for a diplomatic function  
I had to attend. She dressed in  
a figure hugging mini evening dress.  
I don't think there was  
an eye in the room that wasn't on us. And  
all I heard for  
the next week who was the goddess with the legs you took to  
the function."  
        He fetched plates out  
and served up the salad and  
handed a plate to Fraser and headed  
for the dining room with  
Fraser on his heels.  
        "You'll get to meet  
her some time. She always drops  
into the consulate or my chalet  
when she comes back to visit  
her mother. I had to give her the key  
to the chalet, because  
she just kicked the door in if I wasn't there  
when she  
dropped in and I got sick of replacing the locks."  
        Fraser laughed and Dante  
smiled to himself, happy to  
hear him laughing again and searched  
his memory for stories  
to keep him laughing.  
          
                        *~~~~~~~~~~*=@=*~~~~~~~~~~*  
  
        Meg visited Ray again  
that night after she left the  
consulate. His mother was sitting  
by his bedside when she  
arrived and Ray was sleeping. Almost as if she'd sensed her  
presence outside, Mrs Vecchio looked around and saw her  
through the window. She turned and patted Ray's arm before  
she rose and walked out.  
        "How is he?"  
        "He keeps drifting  
in and out of consciousness but the  
Doctor says he is improving."  
        "Do you mind if  
I sit with your son again?"  
        Mr's  
Vecchio patted her arm.  
        "Of  
course I don't mind, he seemed much more animated  
after your visit."  
        The two women left, with  
Mrs Vecchio making  
arrangements for Meg to sit with her son with  
the Doctor.  
When Meg returned in the sterile gown, cap and mask the  
Doctors insisted all visitors wear, Ray's head moved and his  
nose  
twitched as she sat by the bed. She heard him inhale  
deeply a little frown appearing on his forehead.  
        -O.K, there is someone  
there, but it's not Ma, or  
Frannie or Maria. It's not a man, it  
doesn't smell like one,  
that means it's a woman. (sniff) Hmm.. Not  
Elaine. Who could  
it be. Well there's only one way to find out-  
        Meg watched as his eyes  
opened, and his eyes lit up  
when he saw her. His hand rose and he  
mimed writing. She  
looked around saw the coast was clear and reached under the  
gown to pull out her note book and pen.  
        He had trouble holding  
the pen and kept dropping it,  
but she kept retrieving it with infinite  
patience. He  
thanked her again, and covered the rest of the page with X &  
O's,  
and tried to flip the page. She flipped it for him and  
he wrote look in the drawer. She set the pad aside and  
opened the bedside drawer to find the parcel she'd opened.  
        "Ah, you want me  
to read for you again."  
        When  
she glanced at him he gave a tiny nod and a  
hopeful look. She smiled  
faintly and ripped away the paper  
to pull out the book and sat, looking for the page she'd  
marked and started reading.  
          
                        *~~~~~~~~~~*=@=*~~~~~~~~~~*  
  
        The day the plaster came  
off, Dante celebrated by  
taking Fraser shopping for clothes more  
suited to the  
environment. The first stop was a clothing shop on the  
beach. Dante's idea of suitable clothing was to chose six  
suits consisting of cotton draw string pants, matching  
singlets, long sleeved shirts and coats in bright colours.  
Fraser left the shop wearing a pale blue suit, minus its  
coat, with the shirt open to show the singlet underneath,  
much to the appreciation of several beach bunnies who's itsy  
bitsy,  
teeny weeny bright print bikinis left little to the  
imagination.  
        Fraser wasn't sure who  
their big smiles were for, in  
his opinion Dante looked fabulous  
in his Levi's and singlet  
which clung lovingly to every well sculpted inch of his  
lightly tanned body. Dante ignored them, wrapping an arm  
around his waist and pointed.          
        "We can get  
you some new shoes to go with your suits  
there."  
        The women got that "all  
the cute ones are gay" look on  
their face and sauntered off  
looking for more appreciative  
company. Fraser gave Dante a smile that made his heart beat  
a little faster and ideas that involved a bed and lots of  
physical contact.  
         He gave a little shake  
of the head scratching those  
ideas. Just because Fraser's plaster  
had come off didn't  
mean he could pounce and get passionate. The doctor had  
warned him to take it easy and work out a little before he  
got into anything strenuous. But then again, there was  
something to say about a slow and sensuous seduction, Dante  
thought with a little smile and started planning just that.  
        Three pairs of slip on  
shoes that would mix and match  
with the suits and a pair of running  
shoes later, Dante had  
to leave Fraser alone in the shoe shop to make a quick dash  
to the closest EFTPOS machine to get a little more money.  
        Fraser looked at a pair  
of boots set on a display shelf  
with a matching belt, Akubra, and  
a bull whip and expressed  
an interest in them. The sales person pulled them down and  
showed them to him explaining how they were display only,  
the boots were hand made leather and snake skin boots, of  
exceptional quality. Fraser admired the work of both the  
boots and the belt and got the details intending to inquire  
about having a pair of boots (with matching belt) made up  
for Dante's birthday once he returned to work.  
        A shadow falling over  
him made him look up thinking the  
salesman was returning with the  
promised business card,  
instead what he found was a woman smiling down at him. She  
wore a sarong wrapped around her slim waist and an itsy  
bitsy bikini top providing little or no support for her  
Dolly Parton bust line. One of her long legs rose, her  
dainty foot setting on the chair between his legs.  
        "I need shoes."  
        Fraser gulped and  
tried to slide back as her foot began  
inching closer and he saw  
Dante moving up behind her.  
        =Here comes trouble=  
Fraser thought.  
        Dante  
tapped her on the shoulder.  
        "He's  
not a salesman," Dante said.          
        The woman glanced  
around did a double take then turned  
to face Dante looking him up  
and down and set her shoulders  
back virtually thrusting her impressive breasts at him.  
        "Are those silicon  
or saline?" Dante asked.  
        Fraser  
choked a laugh back at that.  
        "100%  
natural," the woman claimed.  
        "100%  
Gay," Dante responded.  
        With  
a pout she departed and Fraser gave Dante another  
one of the wicked  
idea inducing smiles.  
        "Oh do stop doing  
that," Dante grouched pulling his  
wallet out of his back pocket  
as the salesman approached.  
        "Doing what?"  
Fraser asked innocently.  
        "You  
know what," Dante retorted and pulled out some  
polymer notes  
and handed them to Fraser as he rose.  
        Fraser paid for the shoes  
and followed after Dante  
juggling boxes. Dante packed them into  
the back of his Jeep  
Cheroke and surprised Fraser by heading out of town.  
        "Where are we going  
now?"  
        "Now  
we've taken care of your casual wear, it's time to  
shop for more  
formal clothes suitable for your new  
environment."  
        Fraser settled back and  
watched the picturesque  
landscape they passed through. He sat up  
a little straighter  
as they moved along a familiar route.  
        "Are we going to  
the heliport?"  
        "No,  
though it's on their route."  
        "Where  
are we going?"  
        "Sydney,  
city. It's only an hour away by the freeway at  
this time of day.  
By the way, since I'm the one paying for  
this wardrobe of yours I hope you don't mind if we stop over  
at  
Oxford street along the way to find a little something..  
special."  
        "Evening wear?"  
        Dante grinned.  
        "You could say that."  
          
        ==============  
        Writers note: Oxford  
street is the hub of Kings Cross  
Gay scene and there a number of  
shops that cater to the  
leather fetishist and bondage lovers.  
        =============  
  
        Fraser smiled as Dante  
lead him into the R.M William's  
shop near Central railway station,  
and was soon the proud  
owner of 3 new pairs of jeans, riding pants, cotton shirts,  
two new belts and an Akubra hat. The bags were packed in the  
back  
of the jeep, and Dante took him for a walk across the  
street. Fraser thought he was being lead to an adult book  
shop as Dante lead him to a pair of stair cases between a  
milk bar and a bar. The hoardings proclaimed it to be an  
adult book shop with XXXX rated books. There were two stair  
cases, one leading up and one leading down. Dante lead him  
down stairs and Fraser was surprised to find an eclectic  
collection of books that didn't fit his idea of adult books.  
        Dante  
laughed at his obvious confusion.  
        "The  
Adult book shop's upstairs, this is the Book  
Exchange, a great place  
to look for out of print books, just  
wait here, I have to pick up  
a book," he said before he  
walked to the back of the shop to  
speak to the man seated in  
the open office there who was working  
on the computer.  
        He was handed a book  
and when he returned to the front  
of the shop it was to find Fraser  
had made like a Dodo and  
vanished. He peered around the shop and found him perusing a  
shelf  
of non fiction books. Instead of one book, they left  
with over a dozen, Fraser had selected an Australian classic  
or  
two, along with books on the country itself and two  
dictionaries, one for Italian speakers produced by Cassel's  
when he was just a boy.  
        He flipped through it  
while Dante drove through the  
city's streets. Fraser was oblivious  
to the mix of modern  
and classic architecture that lined the streets as he  
flipped through the dictionary.  
        "This is an excellent  
dictionary for someone who  
doesn't speak the language," Fraser  
said, "It includes lists  
of commonly used phrases with common  
words."  
        "Why on Earth did  
you want to buy an Italian  
Dictionary?"  
        "You never know  
when learning another language will  
come in useful Dante. For instance  
.."  
        Fraser found a list of  
commonly used phrases to convey  
a message of love and affection  
and used one on Dante.  
        "Don't flirt while  
I'm driving," Dante said.  
        "You  
know what I said."  
        Dante  
translated it perfectly.  
        "I  
didn't know you speak Italian."  
        "I  
speak French, Italian & German, fluently, and that  
includes slang,  
which it never hurts to learn, and that  
dictionary won't teach you. I also started learning Japanese  
a year  
or two ago, and I'm thinking of studying Vietnamese  
or Chinese next. But then again.. I only started learning  
all those languages for something to do at night."  
        "Perhaps you could  
help me study Italian."  
        "If  
that's what you want to do. Though I'd recommend  
Japanese. There  
are a lot of Japanese businessmen and  
tourists around and you will occasionally end up dealing  
with them. It's so much easier to do when you can speak  
their language."  
        "I'm familiar with  
Italian, I will pick that up  
faster."  
        "Whatever your little  
heart desires."  
        Fraser  
continued to peruse the dictionary until Dante  
pulled up on Oxford  
street. When he looked around his eyes  
widened. Dante clambered out and opened his door for him.  
        "Welcome to Oxford  
street."  
        A  
pair of men walked past holding hands, another couple  
one with his  
arms around his partner's waist, the other with  
his hand tucked  
into the back pocket of his partner's tight  
jeans sauntered past and gave them the eye.  
        Dante locked the Cheroke  
and wrapped an arm around  
Fraser's shoulder's and lead him down  
the street, while  
Fraser took note of all the openly gay couples, both male  
and female who strolled the streets. He was so busy taking  
that in that he didn't notice what kind of shop Dante was  
leading him too until he was inside and a leather clad  
shopkeeper with a campy attitude greeted them.  
        With wide eyes Fraser  
looked around.  
        "And  
what can I do for you?" The shopkeeper asked.  
        "I  
wants pants and a collar n' cuffs set for my Friend  
here,"  
Dante said patting Fraser on the chest.  
        "Tight fight or  
loose."  
        "As  
tight as they come."  
        Half  
an hour later, Fraser followed Dante out the  
bemused owner of a  
pair of skin tight black leather pants,  
that Dante made him wear, and a black leather studded "dog"  
collar, with a hoop on the front, and a lock with a tiny  
gold padlock on the back around his neck hidden under the  
collar of his shirt which he'd pulled up and used to cover  
it. The cuffs matched the collar and were hidden by the  
sleeves of his shirt.  
        Dante packed the bag  
that contained the cotton pants  
Fraser had been wearing, in the  
back of the Cheroke, made  
Fraser undo his collar and open it to show off the leather  
collar and roll back his sleeves then led him to a bar  
filled with blue collar & stylishly dressed men, where they  
had lunch.  
        No one tried to flirt  
with them, though a few men at  
the bar seemed interested, till they  
saw the cuffs with  
pointy studs around Fraser's wrists when he reached for his  
drink.  
        "I made a booking  
at a hotel for the night while you  
were trying on those pants, so  
we can spend the day sight  
seeing. I think I'll leave the Cherokee at the Mitchell,  
take a walk through the Botanical gardens through to the  
Quay, and show you the harbour & the Rocks and we can finish  
off  
with a trip over to Taronga zoo, and the aquarium at  
Manly."  
        "What is the Mitchell?"  
        Dante smiled at  
him impishly.  
        "You'll  
find out soon enough."  
        Half  
an hour later Fraser stood outside the imposing  
structure across  
the way from the Botanical gardens that was  
the Mitchell Library.  
And while he thought it was impressive  
from the outside, he thought  
it was considerably more  
impressive after passing through its doors to be lead to the  
main  
reading room.  
        "Well, what do you  
think?" Dante asked as he waved to  
the rooms high vaulted multi  
level room, with row after row,  
level after level of books shelves,  
loaded down with books  
new and old.  
        "They say if it's  
been published in Australia, you can  
find it here."  
        "I think my grandparents  
would have been in heaven  
here," Fraser said.  
        "Would you like  
to look around?"  
        Fraser  
looked around, then wound his arms around one of  
Dante's.  
        "If I start looking  
through the books you won't get me  
out of here in a hurry and you  
promised to show me the  
gardens."  
        Dante smiled.  
        "We  
can always come back here later, can't we?"  
        "Of  
course. The consulate is here in Sydney, on  
Harrington Street."  
        "And you booked  
a suite at a hotel??" Fraser was  
confused.  
        "I don't live in  
Sydney, I only work here, I commute  
from Terrigal."  
        "Why did you buy  
a home so far from the consulate?"  
Fraser asked as Dante lead  
him out of that magnificent  
structure.          
        "I didn't.. I used  
to rent an apartment in the Cross,  
but I did have a property in  
Canada. I made a friend from  
the French Consulate who was transferring to Canada who  
owned the house at Terrigal and traded properties with him."  
        "Ah."  
        "Though the position  
of Liaison officer comes with a  
apartment here in the city near  
the consulate. When he  
retires next week, it becomes mine along with his position."  
        "You should have  
returned to duty at the consulate when  
you returned here.."  
        "He knows I've been  
looking after you. He's been  
nagging me for years to find a partner  
and settle down.. if  
you have no objections, we'll have lunch with him tomorrow."  
        "I have no objections."  
        "Good.. He's  
worried about his daughter's decision to  
stay in Australia. Once  
she sees I have a S.O she should get  
it through her thick skull  
that I'm not interested."  
        "Oh... that's why  
he's been nagging you to settle down  
with someone, because of his  
daughter."  
        "Exactly. Lovely  
woman, when she's not being a  
barracuda and speaking of big fish..  
You just have to see  
the Gold fish here.."  
                  
                        *~~~~~~~~~~*=@=*~~~~~~~~~~*  
          
        When Meg finished reading  
the profiling guide and case  
history's included with it Ray dropped  
off as she closed the  
bound file. She wondered if he really had  
fallen asleep or  
just pretended to do it when he looked extremely surprised  
to see her the next day. He was also curious, as she came  
baring a sports bag. She leaned over him, touching his arm.  
        "I can't stay long,  
you have another visitor, but I  
brought you some things to make  
your life a little easier."  
        Then  
she pulled out a hand brace with an attachment. He  
frowned and raised  
his hand as instructed. She put the brace  
on his hand and then pulled  
out a pen and slipped it into  
the attachment.  
        "There, now you  
won't keep dropping the pen."  
        He  
gave her the thumbs up and if he could have smiled  
he would have  
given her a big one when she pulled out a  
computer note stand of the type that has clamps and a swing  
bar. She attached it to the side bars.  
        "Lift your hand  
and pretend to write.. Tell me when I  
get the angle right."  
        He obeyed and she worked  
to adjust it till she got it  
just right for him to be able to write  
comfortably and be  
able to see what he was doing then she locked it into place  
twisting screw joints tight. A nice thick pad of blank paper  
was  
placed on the stand and she pulled out a thick pile of  
the same kind of pads and put them on the bedside table.  
        Ray covered the first  
sheet in shaky X's and a big  
smiley face at the bottom while she  
closed up the bag. He  
held the page out to her and she gave him a smile.  
        "You're welcome."  
        He raised his hand  
to study the brace and gave her a  
curious look.  
        "My father couldn't  
talk near the end, and could only  
communicate through writing notes.  
But he kept loosing his  
grip on the pen and got very frustrated and started sulking  
till one day the nurse who tended to his needs brought that  
brace in. I was looking for some kind of lap table for you  
to put paper on so you could write when I walked past a  
computer shop and saw that stand in their window display. I  
realised it would be better than a lapstand and went back  
and brought it."  
        -How much do IOU?- He  
wrote.  
        She waved  
it off.  
        "Don't  
worry about it. I have to go now, your other  
visitor must be getting  
impatient."  
        For the first time his  
arm rose and moved over the bed  
rail, his hand wrapping around her  
arm stopping her as she  
turned away. She looked down at his hand, then turned back  
and he let her go to start writing.  
        -Come back again please-  
        She patted his arm.  
        "Relax, I'll  
be back. Tomorrow. Now I really have to go  
before your visitor gets  
too impatient and decides to  
leave."  
        This time he let her  
leave and watched her cross the  
room to walk out. He wondered who  
his visitor could be.  
Since Meg had started visiting him on a regular basis none  
of his family members had visited at that time of the day.  
Sometimes other officer's from the precinct visited, but  
that was usually during the day, and they kept their visits  
short. Except Elaine she visited at least once a week and  
proved to be a fountain of information about who was doing  
what with whom around the station. What cases were solved or  
still  
open. Huey it seemed had been given half his cases,  
the other half had been divided amongst the other detectives  
at  
the precinct.  
        His thoughts turned to  
a case Elaine told him Huey had  
taken on and was having trouble  
with. He remembered it, he'd  
been doing work on that particular  
case on the day he'd had  
his accident and hadn't been able to make up his notes. He  
looked at the stand and raised a hand to start doing that.  
        Ray looked around as  
the door opened and a man in  
scrubs and mask entered the room. He  
frowned, not  
recognising him. The frown vanished and a startled look took  
it's  
place when the man crossed the room and sat down  
introducing himself as the man who'd invented profiling.  
        "Your friend, Meg  
told me you've had an interest in  
learning profiling for a long  
time."  
          
                  
*~~~~~~~~~~*ooOO0=@=0OOoo*~~~~~~~~~~*  
  
                                        Part  
Seven  
                                  
*ooOO0=@=0OOoo*  
  
        Fraser lay curled up  
in bed, a chain looped through the  
loop on his locked collar chaining  
him to the bed. He  
shuddered as he felt Dante's hand sliding over his back, but  
Dante  
mistook it for something else. The caress was followed  
by the bed  
dipping and Dante's lips on the sensitive flesh  
on his throat above the collar that had become a sign of his  
dominated  
state.  
        He stared out the window  
not seeing the view of the  
harbour, as he endured Dante's affections  
and regretted not  
for the first time the day he'd come to this country with  
the man who now controlled his life. Every aspect of his  
life. From his work at the consulate to his life outside its  
walls.  
Every item of clothing he owned was selected by  
Dante, all the clothes he'd brought with him, barring his  
uniform, Dante had taken and given away to some charitable  
organisation. Including the clothes Ray and Francesca had  
given him for his birthday which Fraser had refused to part  
with until Dante's visage had taken on that furious cast  
Fraser was becoming all too familiar with.  
        He couldn't remember  
the last time Dante had smiled, no  
that was a lie, he could remember  
it well. It had been the  
day Fraser had fallen back in love with him. When he'd been  
pampered, shown around the city, and presented with a ring  
for his finger during a harbour cruise. Dante had pledged  
his love, and made promises of undying love and affection,  
and followed the cruise with a limo ride to a 5 star hotel  
where he spent the rest of the evening showering him TLC,  
making slow sweet love to him, first in the spa bath, then  
in the big bed that was the main feature of the large suite  
Dante had booked.  
        As he lay curled in Dante's  
arms late in the night, he  
woke to the feel of those arms tightening  
around him in a  
  
cruelly tight embrace that made it hard to breath. He heard  
Dante whimper in his sleep and fought to break that hold,  
and woke Dante in the process. Looking into his eyes Fraser  
had gone from confused to concerned, touching Dante's face  
he found it cold and clammy to touch.  
        He'd scrambled out of  
bed and called reception who'd  
sent a doctor up. By the time he  
arrived Dante was sitting  
up holding his head and after questioning, the Doctor  
diagnosed a severe migraine and left, returning to give  
Dante an injection. Dante had settled back into a restless  
sleep, but after that night he'd never been the same.  
        He never smiled, settling  
into a permanent dour mood,  
he seemed to consume headache capsules  
at the rate of a pack  
a day, snarling and growling his way through  
the day. Fraser  
had thought it would pass but as the weeks passed  
he only  
grew worse. All Fraser's attempts to get him to see a doctor  
failed  
and only seemed to make him angry. When his mood  
shifted from growling grump to terrifying fury Fraser called  
a Doctor  
who diagnosed another migraine and gave him a shot  
but Fraser knew there had to be more to it.  
        So far Dante had managed  
to restrain himself, though  
his jealousy and possessive behaviour  
had escalated to the  
point where the other staff at the consulate were afraid to  
spend any time in Fraser's company. But there were times  
Fraser feared for his safety, times when Dante raised a hand  
to  
him, and roared at him, hurling abusive language at him,  
but never laying a hand on him. He wondered how long that  
would last, he'd thought Dante would cross the line that  
evening, instead he'd trashed the apartment around Fraser  
and chained him to the bed before leaving to take a long  
walk.  
        The chain was strong,  
and just long enough for Fraser  
to be able to lie down, but any  
attempt to leave the bed was  
cut short. He couldn't even reach the  
bedside drawer to find  
something to break the tiny golden padlock.  
        The feel of Dante's hands  
moving over him, his finger's  
sliding inside preparing him for an  
intimate invasion him  
made Fraser want to cringe, but he forced himself to relax.  
Any time he tensed up or rejected Dante's love making it  
turned rough while Dante accused him of all manner of  
betrayals.  
        Fraser bit into the pillow  
and fought to hold back the  
cry of pain as Dante entered him and  
began seek his pleasure  
with strong deep thrusts, while biting at  
Fraser's throat  
and shoulders. Fraser tried to lose himself in a fantasy  
imagining not Dante but Ray, but he couldn't do it, he  
couldn't imagine Ray using him like this, keeping him in  
chains, and he was dead, suspicions and dreams would be for  
naught, there would be no nights of love in his arms. The  
fantasy shattered and he found himself crying  
uncontrollably, his chest heaving with sobs.  
        For a moment he thought  
his tears had reached Dante as  
he stilled, then he felt Dante climax  
and shudder over him  
growling, "You're mine, now and forever," before withdrawing  
and rolling away. Burying his face in the pillow Fraser's  
sobs increased. There used to be a time, Dante would hold  
him in his arms and whisper words of love instead. Now,  
Dante didn't even want to hold him any more. The only time  
he ever touched him was when he wanted sex and that had  
ceased to bring any pleasure to Fraser though he was sure if  
Dante  
made the effort it could.  
        But it was no longer  
about love, it was about  
possession, and he was no longer Dante's  
partner, he was  
Dante's possession. Without being aware of what he was  
really doing, Fraser began planning his escape. He no longer  
cared  
about getting help for Dante, self preservation  
dictated that he get as far away from Dante as fast as  
possible, if at all possible.  
  
                        *~~~~~~~~~~*=@=*~~~~~~~~~~*  
  
        Ray's release from the  
hospital was celebrated with a  
big party thrown jointly by his family  
and colleagues from  
the precinct at one of his favourite restaurants.  
        Ray enjoyed himself at  
first. It was good to get out of  
the hospital and to see his friends,  
but he couldn't keep  
the mood up for long feeling a pang of loneliness as he  
watched Huey and his new partner Dewey laughing at some joke  
and  
his sister Maria and Tony making eyes at each other over  
the table.  
        No one seemed to notice  
when he left the table, or they  
all assumed he was going to the  
bathroom. He wasn't. He  
walked out of the restaurant and stopped dead on the side  
walk when he saw his car, its paintwork gleaming and free of  
dents,  
gouges and all evidence of the crash. He moved closer  
and peered  
through the window to see that it was the same  
car and not a replacement. It seemed to gleam inside and  
out.  
        The rattle of keys preceded  
the dangling of his keys  
before his eyes and he took them as he  
turned to see his  
mother.  
        "She's working late  
at the consulate. I'm sure she'd be  
happy to see you, especially  
if you come bearing this," his  
mother said holding up a bag  
of take away food containers.  
        He kissed her cheek taking  
the bag, and she resisted  
the urge to give him a hug, everyone had,  
and it was  
starting to grate on his nerves being treated like fragile  
glass. He turned away opening the car and yanked the door  
open, sliding in to put the food on the passenger seat.  
        "What the insurance  
didn't cover all your friends  
chipped in to cover."  
        "Thank them for  
me."  
        "I  
will."  
        She  
remained on the corner watching him drive and for  
the first time  
in a long time he obeyed every road rule and  
drove safely through the night until he pulled up at the  
consulate. He saw a lone light in a window in her office as  
he climbed out with the take away food. A soda can retrieved  
from  
the street and crushed under foot was hurled at her  
window and she threw it up ready to berate the thrower and  
did a double take when she saw Ray waving and holding up the  
bag.  
        "Hungry??"  
He called out.  
        "I'll  
be down in a minute," she called back.  
        She  
was, letting him in and leading him up to her  
office. He settled  
himself down in a seat while she fetched  
cutlery, plates and coffee on a tray.  
        "I ate already,"  
he said when she started opening  
containers.  
        "I heard they were  
arranging a party.."  
        "They  
did. I went and everyone was having a good time."  
        "Except  
you, obviously."  
        "It  
reminded me of Fraser."  
        {So  
you came here}  
        "Do  
you know how he's going?"  
        "No."  
        "Oh. Well..  
How are things going here? I know you've  
been pretty busy lately..  
I wondered why you stopped  
coming."  
        "Fraser's replacement  
makes Turnbull look like a master  
of efficiency," She said,  
then smiled faintly, "Actually,  
Turnbull has become rather  
efficient."  
        "Fraser said Dante  
scared him into it."  
        He  
watched her face take on a disagreeable cast.  
        "But  
enough about them.. I want to talk about you."  
        "Oh."  
        "I don't think  
I ever thanked you for arranging that  
meeting with the Master Profiler."  
        "Did you enjoy it?"  
        "It was interesting..  
We discussed a case of mine, he  
told me what I'd have to do to get  
into profiling now.. Not  
that I want to be a profiler.. I just think that it would be  
a hell  
of a skill to have, being a detective. Did I mention,  
I discussed  
a case that was transferred to Huey with him and  
he helped me to  
put a profile of the guy together from the  
information I already had. He took it home, tidied it up and  
put  
in all the right psycho babble, then brought it back so  
I could  
give it to Huey and they nailed a suspect the very  
next day using it."  
        "All the more reason  
to study profiling. And become an  
accredited Profiler."  
        "I couldn't get  
into the FBI's profiler programme, you  
need qualifications that  
I ain't got and it would take me  
years to get them. I correspond with him now.. Not that I've  
got  
much to write about.. but that'll change when I get back  
on the  
job. He's been sending me information on old cases,  
no profiles.. I had to look them over and construct a basic  
profile from the information he sent using that guide he  
sent me. And I've got a long list of books he recommended on  
psychology  
and criminology. I'll start hunting them down and  
build up a collection.  
I've actually got a few of the crime  
books he recommended already. I got them years ago.. they're  
gathering  
dust in a box in the attic somewhere. I'll have to  
find them."  
                          
                        *~~~~~~~~~~*=@=*~~~~~~~~~~*  
  
        At some point during  
the evening Ray discovered Fraser  
had gone to Australia to work  
as the Deputy Liaison officer  
under Dante at the Sydney consulate. He wondered why he  
couldn't feel happy for his friend, then Meg told him she  
didn't think Fraser knew he'd survived the accident. That  
stuck in his mind, as he left the consulate and tailed her  
home. She came over to his car, and invited him up for  
coffee, for a moment he was tempted to take up the offer,  
his body singing go for it.  
        But he knew his family  
would start to worry about him  
if he didn't return home soon and  
declined. She looked  
faintly disappointed as she stepped back and he drove away  
with her on his mind instead of Fraser.  
        His mind returned to  
Fraser the next morning when he  
visited the precinct. An immediate  
return to work was not on  
the cards. He had to be medically certified  
fit to return to  
work first and that was still some time away, and  
then he  
could look forward to being confined to a desk job for the  
first few weeks until he passed the police services fitness  
tests which were far more strenuous than what his doctor had  
put  
him through.           
        Once  
that was settled, he began making nebulous plans  
for how to spend  
that time. Those plans became concrete when  
Welsh handed him papers  
concerning his entitlements  
surprising him.  
        "You were on your  
way to the hospital on police  
business when the accident occurred,"  
Welsh reminded him.  
        Between  
his own private health cover & insurance and  
the Chicago PD arranged  
kind all his medical bills were  
covered and he had quite a tidy sum left over. More than  
enough to make those nebulous plans a reality.  
        His first stop on leaving  
the precinct was the bank to  
cash the cheque Welsh had given him,  
then it was off to the  
Australian Embassy.  
  
                        *~~~~~~~~~~*=@=*~~~~~~~~~~*  
  
        Fraser sat on the floor  
looking at the wreckage left in  
the wake of another of Dante's fits  
of temper and his own  
attempts to find his papers, his passport among them. It had  
been  
a fruitless search. They papers just weren't there, and  
he had no  
idea where they could be. Without them, he  
couldn't leave the country, and unless he could do so,  
escaping his increasingly volatile lover would be next to  
impossible. Dante had friends within both state and Federal  
police networks of the country. They'd find him, and lead  
Dante to him.  
        He needed to get out  
of the country to escape Dante,  
but he needed his passport to do  
that and Dante had  
effectively trapped him by making sure he couldn't get it.  
Any attempt to get a new one would reach Dante's ears before  
he  
was successful and he could imagine the results. No, he  
had to find out where Dante had put his papers and do it  
soon, but first he had to make sure Dante wasn't aware he  
was searching for them, which mean restoring the apartment  
to order even if it was the last thing he felt like doing.  
          
                        *~~~~~~~~~~*=@=*~~~~~~~~~~*  
  
        Meg Thatcher was in the  
middle of reaming out the  
incompetent woman who had replaced Fraser  
when her phone  
rang. With no hurry she answered it.  
        "Inspector Thatcher?"  
        Annoyance twisted  
her face.  
        {After  
all this time you think he'd drop the Inspector  
at least. It's not  
as if he's one of my staff}  
        "Vecchio what..  
"  
        "Sorry  
to intrude."  
        "I  
hope you've got a good reason for it."  
        She  
turned from the curious eyes of her incompetent  
subordinate, walking  
away.  
        "What the matter?"  
        "I'm in Australia..  
What you said about Fraser got me  
thinking.. You were right, about  
Benni not knowing I made  
it. I tracked him down..and.. That guy who was holding the  
fort down for you."  
        "Inspector McIntire."  
        "He's psycho,  
he's turned Fraser into a virtual  
prisoner here.. He's terrified  
of what will happen if Dante  
\- Mc Intire finds out I'm here.. He wants to leave but he  
can't.. Dante has all his papers and Benni can't find them  
or get new ones to leave this country behind. You know what  
he'd need to return to America.. Do you think you can  
arrange it and get them out to me so I can bring him back  
with me?"  
        "How serious is  
the situation?"  
        "Very..  
Fraser can't leave the apartment without Dante  
at his side any more.  
He can't go anywhere without Dante  
there.. Fraser says he sick.. Literally, there's something  
wrong with him, but he refuses to see a doctor and gets  
worse everyday, he's been mentally deteriorating in front of  
Benni's  
eyes. He's always in a foul mood, paranoid,  
occasionally violent and .."  
        She heard him hesitate,  
the rustling of cloth then  
Vecchio was back.  
        "I'm sure there's  
a lot more going on that Benni won't  
tell me about.. And I ain't  
about to repeat some of the  
things he told me over the phone."  
        She sighed it was worse  
than she imagined it could get.  
        "How  
did you get to speak to him?"  
        "Benni  
likes libraries, he warned me about Dante in the  
past.. So I knew  
being seen with him, by Dante would just  
cause trouble. So I found out where every library around the  
consulate  
was and started checking each one.. Wouldn't you  
know it, he's a regular visitor to the biggest library in  
the state.. It's the only place Dante lets him go to alone.  
I found out when he usually drops in and had to wait for  
three days before he did.. He almost fainted when he saw me.  
And  
he promised to met me here again, but he's been a no  
show and I don't wanna waste another minute.. He's terrified  
of  
what Dante will do if he finds out about me.. And he  
swore if I could help him get the papers he'd come back with  
me."  
        "Alright, I get  
the picture, where should I send the  
paperwork?"  
  
                        *~~~~~~~~~~*=@=*~~~~~~~~~~*  
  
        Ray hovered in his usual  
place, hidden but well placed  
to watch every person who entered  
through the main entry of  
the Mitchell library. Three days had passed since the  
courier Meg had dispatched with the papers he'd needed  
including the all important replacement passport. Those  
papers were tucked away in the deep pocket of Ray's bright  
cotton coat.  
        He'd arrived at the end  
of the summer season, and taken  
the opportunity to purchase a few  
new suits, shirts, pants  
and coats more suited to the Australian summer at knock down  
prices.  
He'd been thinking how they'd come into their own  
back home during the next heat wave and been quite gleeful  
once he'd done his sums and worked out what he'd have paid  
for them back home. But the meeting with Fraser had taken  
any delight he felt away.  
        Now all he felt was increasing  
anxiety and concern for  
his absent friend. Checking his watch, his  
anxiety rose, he  
gave up on Fraser arriving and stepped out of his hiding  
place to stride across the wide marble floored entry hall a  
tenuous plan of action taking shape in his head. A hand on  
his arm drew him from his thoughts and to a stop.  
        He looked around to see  
a well dressed aboriginal man  
in a suit and recalled that he'd seen  
the man enter the  
library half an hour ago. The man was comparing his face to  
a piece of paper in his hand.  
        "Raymond Vecchio?"  
        "Yes."  
        The man pulled an  
I.D case from his suit and flashed  
his I.D and Badge before Ray's  
face and identified himself  
as a Federal police officer by the name of Mandaway before  
asking Ray to accompany him - To the Hospital.  
  
                  
*~~~~~~~~~~*ooOO0=@=0OOoo*~~~~~~~~~~*  
  
                                        Part  
Eight  
                                  
*ooOO0=@=0OOoo*  
  
        Ray stood slumped against  
the lounge room wall, arms  
crossed, watching Fraser who was curled  
up in a chair, arms  
wrapped around his drawn up legs staring at nothing as he  
rocked back and forth, swaying now and then. Deif lay at  
Fraser's feet looking up at him now and again with a little  
whine of sympathy.  
        Hearing someone approaching  
Ray looked to see his  
mother leading Meg into the room. Ray bolted  
upright and  
hurried to their side. His mother departed, to make tea, or  
so she said. Meg studied Fraser, a look of sadness on her  
face.  
        "He's been like  
that since he was released from the  
hospital. The only time he does  
anything else is when he's  
sleeping," Ray said with a sigh, running a hand through hair  
that needed a cut. "That's when he starts screaming till I  
hit him with a sedative to put him into deep sleep - no  
dreams."  
        "They gave you the  
sedatives?"  
        "Yeah..  
He did the same thing at the hospital. The  
Doctor said he should  
be transferred to a psychiatric  
facility. I had to do some fast talking to get them to agree  
to  
release him into my care. I had to sign a stack of  
papers. And I'm starting to wonder if maybe it was the wrong  
thing  
to do. He just doesn't react to anything."          
        She reached out  
and rubbed his arm.  
        "You  
did the right thing. Being placed in psychiatric  
care in a strange  
land, surrounded by strangers would have  
been the worst thing that could have happened."  
        "Oh, no, the worst  
thing that could have happened is  
what left him in this state. Mc  
Intire lost it entirely with  
him.. And he didn't just beat the living  
daylights out of  
him, he raped him," Ray growled in a low voice that wouldn't  
carry far.  
        Meg's eyes closed and  
he saw her shudder.  
        "I  
don't know what to do any more. He doesn't react to  
anything."  
        "He needs a friend  
to help him get through this.. But  
your family shouldn't have to  
deal with it."  
        "I'm not taking  
him back to that flea pit of his."  
        "I  
wasn't going to suggest it. My place is.. "  
        "It's  
not in the same place Mc Intire stayed at while  
he was here is it?"  
        "No."          
        "How many rooms?"  
        "Two.. One's  
my office.. But I can convert it to a  
bedroom. If you handle him  
at night, I'll handle him during  
the day. We can take it in shifts. Oh.. And.. I've already  
talked  
to the CPD.. I know you converted your leave to  
indefinite leave without pay to tend to him for as long as  
it takes. You'll be covered by the RCMP from here on in."  
        "What?!"  
        "We take care  
of our own. This whole mess should never  
have taken place, McIntire  
should never have been permitted  
to come near Fraser again.. Not after what happened the  
last time."  
        "What happened?"  
        "He beat Fraser...  
Fraser has Battered Spouse Syndrome,  
no matter how many times that  
man hurt him, he always found  
excuses or lied for him.. Would never lay charges. It took  
his father acting to get him out of his clutches."  
        "As much as I despise  
that man for what he did to  
Fraser, I'm telling you there is no  
way Benni woulda gone  
back to the guy if he was a serial abuser."  
        "You can say that  
after what he did this time?"  
        "Benni  
told me he was sick.. The Mandaway guy from the  
Fed's there, said  
they interviewed staff at the consulate  
and they all said, his personality had changed drastically.  
Everyone who knows him said the same thing. And once they  
catch him, they'll be dragging him to a hospital for a  
physical before they run a psychological exam on him. If it  
turns out he's perfectly fit and sane, he'll be charged for  
what he did to Benni and we'll have to take him back for the  
trial.  
If not, they'll lock him up in a psych ward and make  
arrangements to ship him home, quietly."  
        "I've been doing  
what I can on my end.. The RCMP is  
moving on this, his personal  
effects are being seized, his  
accounts frozen. His passport was revoked. His former  
superior has returned to work with the Federal police on  
this matter. Mc Intire won't get far before he's caught."  
        "What  
about.. His mental state?" Ray asked, indicating  
Fraser rocking  
away seemingly oblivious to their  
conversation.  
        "It's not the first  
time something like this has  
happened.. He apparently reacted to  
a .. vicious assault in  
much the same way in the past and eventually came out of  
it.. They're moving now.. To liaise with the American mental  
health  
services.. to arrange for a temporary guardianship  
order to be made out in your name.. If you'll accept that  
responsibility?"  
        Ray nodded.  
        "Good. The papers  
will be delivered soon.. Once you  
sign them, I'll lodge them and  
you'll become his temporary  
official guardian.."  
        Deif squeaked and they  
looked around to see Fraser  
uncurling, the wolf moving away, since  
he'd been trodden on.  
Deif sat and his tail thumped madly on the  
floor as they  
gaped at Fraser rising from the chair. Meg looked at Ray and  
realised  
this wasn't something Fraser had done before.  
        Then he was approaching  
and Ray was enfolded in a bone  
cracking hug by a sobbing Fraser.  
He awkwardly patted and  
stroked Fraser's back.  
          
                        *~~~~~~~~~~*=@=*~~~~~~~~~~*  
  
        Meg watched Ray as he  
slept in her big bed, twisting  
and turning, tangling himself up  
in the blankets. His  
restless movements causing his pyjama top to gape open and  
his pants to snake down his hips.  
        So different from Fraser  
who spent most of his day  
curled up in a tight ball in bed. His  
nights were spent in a  
chair, watching Ray as he'd poured over Psychology  
and Rape  
Counselling text books by the score, most if not all which  
he'd hurled into the trash can in frustration, when  
attempting to follow their advice lead to no change in  
Fraser's condition. Whenever Ray through a book away, Meg  
always waited till he stomped off to fetch them out, clean  
them up and added them to the collection which was rapidly  
filling a bookcase that used to hold all her nicknacks.  
        Sometimes he'd go to  
the collection, pull out a book  
and look through it again, if it  
went into the bin twice, it  
stayed there. But lately Ray had taken  
to sitting opposite  
Fraser and just talked, all night.  
        He'd talked about his  
life, himself, his family, his  
father, his failed marriage, his  
career. Meg totally re-  
evaluated him. Sometimes during the hours when Fraser slept  
and they had nothing better to do they'd sit and discuss old  
cases.  
        Those pants slipped lower.  
One of his hands slid over  
his body and she watched as he began  
touching himself in his  
sleep. Something he did quite often she'd  
discovered after  
investigating every time she heard him crying out in his  
restless sleep.  
        Not that every cry he  
made was one of self induced  
solumbulistic pleasure. Many's the  
time she'd entered to  
find him curled up around a pillow sobbing into it. Until  
she'd inadvertently eavesdropped on one of his talks with  
Fraser one sleepless night, to learn about the abusive  
relationship between Ray and his late father, she had no  
clues to the reasons for it.  
        He'd caught her, in the  
room watching, flushing when he  
realised she *knew* but nothing  
had been said. As she  
watched him and listened to his murmurings she promised  
herself, they'd talk about it.  
  
                        *~~~~~~~~~~*=@=*~~~~~~~~~~*  
  
        Meg returned from taking  
Deif for one of his daily  
walks to be handed a large parcel by the  
doorman. More books  
for Ray no doubt. When she returned to the apartment  
she  
found Fraser standing in the door of the bedroom watching  
Ray sleeping. Instead of leading him away, she left him  
there, curious to see what he'd do.  
        She packed away the supplies  
while Deif bounded up to  
Fraser. Fraser looked down at the Wolf,  
and when Deif went  
to the kitchen Fraser followed to watch him nudge his food  
bowl. Meg waited to see what he'd do. Then when he did  
nothing, she opened up a cupboard making sure Fraser saw  
where she stored Deif's food, before she fed the wolf.  
        Deif appreciated it.  
Fraser moved away to collect a  
piece of fruit then wandered back  
to his seat and sank down  
into it to stare into space as he chomped away on his apple.  
Meg  
sighed and for lack of anything better to do, pulled out  
a recipe  
book and began going through it, planning the menu  
for the next week.  
        She marked four recipes  
and hunted down a note pad and  
wrote down a list of ingredients  
to purchase the next time  
she went shopping. She was looking for another recipe to add  
to  
the menu when Ray wandered out of the bedroom, rumpled  
and sleepy.  
        She got a glass of water  
while he checked up on Fraser.  
When he moved into the kitchen, she  
held out the glass, and  
he collected it on his way to the kitchen nook. She dumped  
the parcel before him and he woke right up. Ripping the  
paper away, he revealed her guess to be right. It was full  
of books. There was also a letter and thick file and a  
number of envelopes. He read the letter through twice.  
        "You've been waiting  
for this?"  
        "Yes..  
I tried ringing one of the sexual assault  
support lines one night  
and they gave me a number for this  
counsellor to talk too."  
        "And she sent all  
these books."  
        She  
picked one up and her brows defected.  
        "He  
sent them. I've been in touch with him a few  
times."  
        "These are text  
books, for a psychology course, are you  
intending to become a professional  
counsellor Vecchio?"  
        "He  
said that since I've become Benni's Primary carer  
it wouldn't hurt  
to get some sort of professional  
qualifications. It certainly won't do any damage if I have  
to make an application to extend my guardianship of Benni."  
        "You don't think  
he's going to come out of it in a  
hurry either, do you?"  
        Ray sighed.  
        "The problem is  
that we're dealing with an extremely  
violent betrayal by someone  
he loved and trusted implicitly.  
It takes time to heal wounds like  
that. When he's ready to  
face it and accept help - I'll need to be ready to give him  
the help he needs."  
        He sipped his water and  
opened the file to study the  
top sheet. Meg rose and moved to the  
counter to start  
preparing coffee and breakfast for Ray.  
          
                        *~~~~~~~~~~*=@=*~~~~~~~~~~*  
  
        Meg returned from a shopping  
trip to replenish the  
supplies running desperately low, and was  
startled to find  
Fraser up on his feet, standing in the bedroom doorway  
again. He didn't react to her as she made several trips from  
the  
apartment to the garage to collect all the shopping and  
transferred it to the kitchen. On her last trip, she  
collected the last bag of food and another large parcel and  
envelope addressed to Ray.  
        She left the parcel and  
envelope on the counter where  
Ray would see them and set the bags  
down on the table before  
she approached Fraser wrapping an arm around  
him and looked  
into the room. Ray was sprawled on her bed, the blankets  
tangled around his legs while his pyjama top had come open  
exposing his chest, an arm was over his face, the other lay  
dangling laxly over the edge of the bed.  
        When she looked away  
it was to find Fraser looking at  
her, his face unreadable. She gave  
herself a little mental  
shake and lead him away, closing the door behind her, then  
lead Fraser to the kitchen setting him at the table while  
she unpacked the groceries.  
        He reached out and pulled  
out a bag of dog kibble  
rattling the packet. There was a panting,  
tail wagging Wolf  
at his chair in next to no time. She watched as he moved  
away to fill Deif's bowl, then hugged and petted the wolf as  
the  
animal chowed down. Deif's tail beat a loud, thumping,  
excited rhythm against the floor the whole time.  
        She completed the unpacking,  
then left the man to  
commune with his wolf and returned to the bedroom,  
slipping  
quietly inside, silently closing the door behind her.  
Creeping to the bedside she leant over Ray to carefully tug  
his pyjama's back into order. He started stirring as she  
buttoned them up, and lazily opened one eye, then jumped  
half out of his skin when it sunk into his sleepy mind that  
the Dragon lady was playing with his pyjama's.  
        "I caught Fraser  
watching you sleeping.. Your shirt  
was gaping open."  
        He half sat up, looking  
around.  
        "He's  
feeding Deif in the kitchen.. I just came to.."  
She reached  
out and tugged the blankets up.  
        "make sure you were  
covered up."  
        "How  
long was he there?"  
        "I  
don't know, I had to go shopping.. He was there in  
the door way  
just watching you when I got back."  
        "He's feeding Deif?"  
        "He pulled  
the food out and spontaneously decided to  
feed him and show him  
some attention. That thumping you can  
hear is Deif expressing his pleasure with the attention."  
        "That's  
a good sign.. He never showed any interest in  
Deif before."  
        "He's showing a  
little too much interest in you."  
        "You  
don't have anything to worry about, unless he  
shows interest in  
you."  
        "Have you ever considered  
sleeping in sweats and Ts?  
It's not the first time I've caught him  
doing it and your  
top's come open every time - and those pants.. well, you've  
almost  
lost them a few times.. ."  
        "What?! Why didn't  
you tell me?"  
        "Well  
I didn't want you to get nervous and leave it all  
up to me.. He  
responds so well to you."  
        "You should have  
told me earlier. You catch him doing  
it again, make some noise,  
wake me up.. .or just leave him  
alone.. and see what he does."  
        "He doesn't do *anything*.  
He just stands there,  
watching you .. . then walks away and either  
curls up in his  
chair, or goes back to his bed and curls up."  
        "To sleep, or just  
stare at the wall?"  
        "Both,  
either."  
        "Yeah,  
well if he does something else when he curls up,  
then it's something  
to worry about."  
        "Something else?"  
        "You know..  
Touches himself."  
        "Ohhh..  
"  
        "He  
doesn't do that, does he?"  
        "He  
doesn't even touch himself when he goes to the  
bathroom."  
        "Speaking of which,  
does he react to being bathed by  
you?"  
        "Does he react to  
you?"  
        "He  
reacted once.. He started crying."  
        "He  
just.. shakes when I do it."  
        "No  
other reaction?"  
        "None  
whatsoever."  
        "You  
sure? He doesn't get.. turned on?"  
        "Yes,  
I'm sure. He doesn't even react to me towelling  
him down."  
        Ray sighed.  
        "Keep an eye out  
for a reaction like that.. Any sign  
of interest at all is supposed  
to be a good sign."  
        He rolled and picked  
up a thick tome from the floor she  
hadn't noticed as he sat back  
up she say that it was a  
psychology text book on the subject of sexual assault.  
        "You should read  
this when I'm done.. The guy who  
wrote it has worked with sexual  
assault victims of all  
kinds.. Including ones who reacted like Benni."  
        He found a page marked  
with a turned down corner and  
opened the book.  
        "Here we go.. Blah  
blah blah.. Good signs are  
displays of spontaneous affection..  
Hugs and crawling into  
the carers bed to cuddle are all part of the process. It's  
considered a really good sign when they touch their primary  
career in a sexual way. Touching, kissing, and in a male's  
case, getting an erection are all good signs."  
        He looked at her over  
the bed and blushed at the look  
she was giving him.  
        "Perhaps. I should  
hire someone else to care for him at  
night," she suggested.  
        "No.. It says the  
primary carer should be someone the  
victim trusts implicitly who  
isn't likely to reject their  
needs for comfort, whatever level of comfort that may be."  
        "And what are you  
going to do if he crawls into this  
bed curls up and gets .. "  
she blushed faintly "hard on  
you?"  
        "What are you going  
to do if he does it to you? He told  
me he was attracted to both  
of us."  
        Her eyes widened.  
        "He told you *that*?"  
        "Yeah."  
        "Well.. I  
think I can handle it if he shows  
spontaneous attention to me, but  
can you?"  
        "I'll deal with  
it if it comes up."  
          
                        *~~~~~~~~~~*=@=*~~~~~~~~~~*  
  
        "I have to return  
to work."  
        Ray  
looked around from his coffee making.  
        "Translation?"  
        "I have no  
leave left. I have to return to work."  
        "Oh..  
I thought you were making a hint."  
        He  
returned to the coffee making.  
        "They  
want to take Fraser and place him in a  
Psychiatric facility."  
        "Over my dead body."  
        He joined her at  
the kitchen table handing her a cup.  
She sipped at it and smiled  
faintly. It was *just* the way  
she liked it.  
        "They can't just  
take him and lock him up."  
        "They  
can and they will. Unless you can have the  
temporary order that  
made you his primary carer extended."  
        Ray  
ran his hands over his head.  
        "Has  
it already been 6 months?"  
        "Yes."          
        "G-d, we're  
sunk.. He hasn't improved at all."  
        "I've  
looked into what would be needed to get the bond  
extended or made  
into a permanent one. To become a permanent  
order, it has to be  
extended for another six months first,  
and he'll be examined, we can apply for a permanent order at  
that  
stage."  
        "But how do we get  
the extension in the first place?"  
        "Your  
studies into psychology will help.. How are they  
going?"  
        "I've got a certificate  
with High Honours, for 1st and  
2cnd level psychology."  
        "Already?!"  
        "It's not like  
I've got all that much else to do. You  
do all the cleaning, most  
of the cooking, take Deif for his  
walks. There's nothing left for me to do, except make sure  
he eats dinner and has a bath. I talk to him for an hour or  
two and study. He just sits there and watches me, till he  
gets sleepy. Then I put him to bed and study a bit more. If  
I can get my level 3 certificate, I can get into the diploma  
courses,  
and gain the certification I'd need to get into  
professional counselling. And you should see some of the  
courses they've got on offer."  
        Meg almost smiled. Ray  
had developed quite an interest  
in the psychological side of things.  
She made a mental note  
to make a few enquiries about seeing if he could study  
Criminal Psychology via correspondence.  
        "If you get into  
a diploma course by the time we ask  
for the guardianship to be made  
permanent it should make it  
easy for us."  
        "There is again.  
Us - We."  
        "The  
extension will be under joint names.. Yours and  
mine."  
        "Can we do that?"  
        "It shouldn't  
be all that difficult. It's no secret  
you've been "Co-habiting"  
with me for the last six months..  
They'll come through, see two  
beds, wonder where the third  
one is and never believe we've been sleeping in shifts."  
        "So..  
.how do we handle that?"  
        "Well..  
either find a bigger apartment, or.. we go to  
bed.. together.  
Tonight."  
        His eyes widened.  
        "Any particular  
reason why *tonight* is the night?"  
        "I'm  
ovulating."  
        "I'm  
sterile."  
        "What?!"  
        "That's why  
I've got an *ex-wife*. I couldn't make a  
mama outta her."  
        "Are you sure the  
problem was yours and not hers?"  
        "I  
spent 8 bloody months having my sex life ruled by a  
thermometer  
a chart and a beeper.. Before I stomped it to  
death when it went off in the middle of a stake out. No  
joy."  
        "Oh."  
        He sipped at his coffee.  
        "Does that  
mean we aren't going to have sex tonight?"  
        He  
spurted coffee everywhere.  
  
                  
*~~~~~~~~~~*ooOO0=@=0OOoo*~~~~~~~~~~*  
  
                                        Part  
Nine  
                                  
*ooOO0=@=0OOoo*  
  
        Meg sat on the edge of  
the bed, sighing while Ray lay  
sprawled over the bed, an arm over  
his eyes, red faced. He  
couldn't believe it. He'd been occasionally fantasising  
about being in bed with Meg for months, and the moment the  
fantasy became reality, his body refused to play along. Or  
to be precise, one particular part of it.  
        "Sorry," Meg  
said.  
        -You're not  
the one who should be saying it. I'm the  
one who disappointed you-  
Ray thought.  
        Then he sat up thinking  
\- But there's more than one way  
to skin a cat-  
         Meg felt the bed moving  
and the mattress dip and there  
were two hands on her back, running  
over it and exploring  
it.  
        {Mhmmm)  
        Then the mattress was  
dipping behind her and those  
hands were moving to stroke her arms  
and she felt his breath  
on her neck.  
        "I thought you said  
you weren't in the mood.  
        "But  
you definitely are.. Relax.."  
        His  
hands slipped under her arms, sliding around her  
body and started  
roaming over her waist and then she felt  
the warmth of his body at her back. One hand popped a button  
or  
two, and the other slipped under he waist band and she  
arched back as they moved in unison, slipping over her  
breast and sex.  
        {If you stop now, I'll  
kill you}  
        She felt  
his body at her back, a little shudder racking  
it and then his hand  
was moving over her and his fingers  
slipped into her bra to start toying with her nipple, first  
stroking then rubbing it between his finger's as he cupped  
her breast. She arched her neck and felt and his hot breath  
on her throat, . felt him give a shuddering breath as he  
discovered how damp her panties were.  
        He started to withdraw.  
        "No.. don't  
stop."  
        The  
hand at her groin moved and slipped under her  
panties, then he was  
caressing her and she felt the bed  
dipping, then he was sitting directly behind her, his legs  
moving around hers wrapping around them, drawing them apart  
with gentle insistence and she could feel the definite  
evidence of the fact he was starting to grow aroused.           
        He began murmuring  
in her ear in Italian and drew a  
moan from her as his fingers began  
to gently play with her  
sex.  
        Then his hands moved  
and they were sliding over her  
body again.  
        "I want to feel  
your body next to mine.. " He murmured  
huskily in her ear as  
his fingers started working on her  
buttons. His hands slipped over her body again, a quick dip  
to her sex, a caress then his hands were moving back over  
her body and he drew away, just long enough to pull her bra  
away. She heard him muttering something in Italian under his  
breath  
then they were together again, skin to skin, from the  
waist up.  
        Her hands went down to  
raise herself as his hands moved  
over her skirt to slip it away  
then his hands slipped her  
panties away.  
        She felt him stiffen  
and groan against her throat as he  
saw Fraser in the door way. Not  
realising what caused it she  
started stroking his legs and he let  
out a deep moan as she  
started moving against him.  
        -G-d, do I tell her,  
or do I just.. Finish what I  
started, and hope he leaves-  
        The way she was moving  
against him made him forget all  
his intentions and his body began  
moving against hers and  
his hands moved over her body turning her head and covering  
her mouth with his, kissing her deeply before his hands  
slithered down her body then his fingers were moving inside  
her making her writhe with pleasure. Her cries of pleasure  
were captured and he didn't stop until she climaxed. Only  
then did he pull away, drawing back and panting as he moved  
back across the bed to kneel at the center of the bed, a  
fine sheen of sweat covering his bare chest as it rose and  
fell with every panting breath.  
        Then she turned to crawl  
across the bed and reaching  
for him.  
        "Now I know you're  
in the mood," she said, the evidence  
of the fact blatantly  
obvious even though he was wearing  
those baggy pants.  
         He shook his head and  
waved his hands around. She went  
to her knees imitating his position.  
        "No?! After that?!"  
        He pointed at the  
door. She looked around and almost  
shrieked in shock when she saw  
Fraser standing in the door  
way. She hadn't even noticed the sound of the door opening.  
        "I.. . think..   
he's.. been there.. quite a while."  
        With  
a hand to her chest, trying to slow the racing of  
her heart, she  
studied Fraser.  
        "I think.. . he's  
interested."  
        "You  
think so.. I know so. He likes both of us  
remember.. "  
        "Take off your pants."  
        He raised a brow.  
        "Either he's  
going to join us, or he's just going to  
watch."  
        "That is so kinky."  
        "Right like  
what you just did to me *knowing* he was  
there wasn't."          
        "Hey, I didn't  
know.. "  
        "Don't  
give me that.. That's what made you groan like  
that and go all  
stiff."  
        "You made me do  
that."  
        "I  
didn't mean that sort of stiff - which you still  
are.. So work  
out what you're going to do about it. Do we  
have a party or a crowd in the bed?"  
         Ray beckoned Fraser  
and slowly Fraser approached. Ray  
and Meg crawled over the bed and  
kneeled on the end holding  
out a hand to him, he took both hands and let them draw him  
close then working together, they stripped him, slowly and  
leisurely, with much kissing and caressing going on as they  
did.  
        When he was as naked  
as they, they moved back across  
the bed, and shared looks. Meg's  
hand slithered over Ray's  
body and touched him up, his hand slithered over hers.  
        As they mutually pleasured  
each other, Fraser slowly  
crawled onto the bed and across it.  
        "Oh.. I definitely  
think.. he wants to join in."  
        Two  
hands were extended and he was drawn in then Ray  
was moving away,  
panting and drenched with sweat, trying to  
control the urge to pounce on Meg as he watched her working  
over Fraser.  
        -God, this is so kinky..  
Positively, definitely,  
kinky.. I am such a deviant. I'm going  
to burn in hell for  
this.. But ooooh, god he wants me to join them. What do I  
do now?-  
        The unasked question  
was answered by Meg and Fraser as  
they both reached for him and  
pulled him back down to the  
bed. The pants he still wore were soon fluttering through  
the air to hit the floor and then there were four hands and  
two mouths moving over him, driving him wild. He was pulled,  
and  
rolled into Meg's embrace and felt Fraser rolling away  
as her hand moved down his body to guide him home. He lost  
himself, forgetting about Fraser as their bodies moved  
together finding each other's rhythm and then Fraser was  
back and he arched over Meg crying out as he felt Fraser  
returning. Hands and mouths moving over him, legs, sliding  
over and around his. Fraser's talented fingers and mouth  
working in unison with Meg's.  
        "OHMIGOD!"  
He cried and heard two satisfied little  
growls.  
        His cries echoed through  
the room as he was brought to  
the most mind blowing orgasm of his  
life and passed out from  
sheer sensory overload.  
  
                        *~~~~~~~~~~*=@=*~~~~~~~~~~*  
  
        Ray stepped out of the  
shower to be offered a towel by  
Meg who looked his dripping body  
over and smiled at him. The  
towel hit the floor and they weren't  
too far behind.  
  
                        *~~~~~~~~~~*=@=*~~~~~~~~~~*  
  
        Fraser sat in his usual  
chair, before the window, Deif  
curled up at his feet sleeping when  
Ray walked in and set a  
hand on his shoulder.  
        "Sorry `bout leaving  
you alone most of the day, Caro, I  
hope you're hungry," Ray  
said as he moved away heading for  
the kitchen.  
        Fraser climbed out of  
his chair and followed Ray. Ray's  
first stop was the refrigerator,  
opening it to look inside  
and Fraser peered over his shoulder, reached in grabbed and  
apple and then walked away. Ray spun and watched him walk  
away munching on the apple.  
  
                        *~~~~~~~~~~*=@=*~~~~~~~~~~*  
          
        Meg was not having a  
good day. The replacement deputy  
liaison officer was totally incompetent,  
she was snowed  
under with work trying to sort out the trouble she generated  
and  
missed Fraser's efficiency in the role. Then the mail  
arrived. She was working her way through it when the phone  
rang.  
  
                        *~~~~~~~~~~*=@=*~~~~~~~~~~*  
  
        Fraser was sleeping,  
but Ray was awake when Meg  
returned from work, late, he watched  
her approach with her  
briefcase as he worked in the kitchen putting the final  
touches to dinner for her. In this case a light salad with a  
thick  
steak. She looked drawn and tired, but perked up a  
little at the smell of the steak which was cooking as he  
diced and sliced vegetables tossing them into a tossing  
bowl.  
        "Bad day huh?"  
        "Fraser's replacement  
is totally incompetent. Worse  
than Turnbull."          
        "Now that's  
bad. Maybe I can cheer you up. Fraser did  
something spontaneous  
again today."  
        "Oh, what?"  
        "Well, first  
he followed me into the kitchen and got  
himself something to eat."  
        "An Apple?"  
        "Yes, how..  
?"  
        "He's  
been doing that for some time, that's why I  
always make sure there's  
plenty of fresh fruit."  
        "Oh, well, he did  
something else.. He bathed himself  
and chose what he was going  
to wear without any help from  
me.. And for a change, he didn't just curl up in his chair  
through the day. He watched me studying and showed a  
definite interest in what I was doing."  
        "That's good isn't  
it?"  
        "Yes.  
It's a definite sign of improvement. Cross your  
fingers. If he continues  
to show spontaneous signs of  
interest in his own well being and self image it'll prove  
he's turned the corner and is on the road to recovery."  
        Meg  
set her case on the bench and opened it.  
        "It  
seems we have two things to celebrate."  
        "Two  
things?"  
        She  
pulled out a now familiar envelope and handed it to  
him. He snatched  
it from her hands and ripped it open to  
pull out his third certificate and a letter. He let out a  
whoop when he read the letter.  
        "You got high honours  
again, didn't you?"  
        "Even  
better, they've sent my records to one of the  
universities who have  
correspondence programs. I've been  
accepted into a university run associate diploma course in  
Psychology."  
        "I've been meaning  
to talk to you about that."  
        "Do  
you have a problem with it? Or is it because I'm  
spending all my  
money on getting my text books and supplies  
and not contributing to the household.. "  
        "Nooo. I don't have  
a problem with it. Since I returned  
to work, you've taken over all  
the household chores too..  
And you're a better cook."  
        "Why thank-you."  
        "And if you  
give me receipts I'll have your course  
related expenses refunded,  
since it's directly related to  
your care of Fraser."  
        "So what's the problem?"  
        "Well I made  
a few inquiries on your behalf."  
        "What  
sort of inquiries?"  
        "I  
couldn't help but notice that you've developed a  
real interest in  
psychology, and I made a few enquires and  
how to get you nominated for the FBI's profiling courses,  
which would help to improve your career prospects. If you  
continue your studies and take up criminology courses you  
could be eligible. But that's immaterial. I've been looking  
into the criminology courses available.. and written to the  
relevant  
people about wether or not you could undertake them  
by correspondence.  
I've explained the situation your in,  
sent copies of your certificates and told them you were  
studying to qualify to study at the associate diploma  
level.. One wrote back.. I spoke to the Dean on the phone  
this afternoon."  
        "And?"  
        "It was a Canadian  
college."  
        "Oh."  
        "But they have  
an excellent course range and a mature  
age student scholarship programme,  
which the Dean thinks  
you'd qualify for. If you pass the scholarship exam and  
interview you could study criminology, general psychology  
and sexual assault counselling there. They're willing to  
come to an arrangement so that you can study part time,  
doing the bulk of the course by correspondence. You'd have  
to attend some classes.. but they have day care, and often  
have parents with young children who bring them into  
classes. They're a very progressive college. Since Fraser's  
quiet and wouldn't cause a disruption, he could accompany  
you and sit in or you could put him in day care when you  
attend classes."  
        "That would mean  
going to Canada to study."  
        "Yes..  
But the Canadian college has the most to offer,  
taking up the course  
schedule they have would not only help  
you to help Fraser but enhance your future career prospects.  
I could  
get a transfer to a post near the college, the  
Inspector there would like to come to the states, we could  
swap places, which would give you a chance to take up the  
offer.. "  
        Ray mulled it over it  
while he splashed a little of her  
favourite salad dressing over  
the vegetables and popped the  
top on the bowl giving it a good shake.  
        "I suppose if I  
agreed to that plan, it would really  
help when we say we're a defacto  
couple.  
        She took a deep breath.  
        "I made a statutory  
declaration, declaring you as my  
Defacto three days ago."  
        "Oh."  
        It didn't seem to bother  
him all that much so she  
pulled a sheath of papers from the case  
and held them up for  
him to see.  
        "There's a pile  
of paperwork to deal with as a result.  
I have to start working on  
creating the right paper trail to  
confirm my statement, that means,  
all entitlements that  
would go to my partner on my death have to be transferred to  
you,  
I have to revise my will.. I have to show *evidence*  
that it's not just a ploy to make it possible to use your  
temporary guardianship of Fraser to get a joint order. And  
you have to do the same thing too."  
        "They worked it  
out."  
        "It's  
a pity your sterile.. It would have solved  
everything if there  
was positive proof of a sexual  
relationship."  
        "If they could have  
heard going on about enhancing my  
career prospects they wouldn't  
suspect you of having  
ulterior motives for declaring me your Defacto."  
        She smiled wryly.  
        "Now all we have  
to do is convince them it's a real  
relationship, that means making  
sure we manufacture all the  
right official evidence."  
        Ray served her meal up.  
        "We can do  
that after you've eaten."  
        He  
held out the plate waving it under her nose. She  
took the plate  
and nibbled on a piece of lettuce as she  
headed for the table.  
        "If you're not careful,  
Vecchio, I might develop an  
ulterior motive for declaring you my  
defacto that has  
nothing to do with Fraser."  
        "And I thought it  
was the way to a *man's* heart."  
          
                        *~~~~~~~~~~*=@=*~~~~~~~~~~*  
  
        Meg took Fraser to the  
consulate with her the next day,  
where the other staff, baring the  
new deputy liaison  
officer, fussed over him all day. Ray for his part, slept  
half the day away before spending the rest of the afternoon  
running around taking care of paperwork, getting records  
from the hospital and arranging to make a joint application  
for Fraser's care.  
        He also managed to fit  
in a visit to his mother to tell  
her there was a possibility he  
might be going to Canada in  
the near future. He wasn't surprised at being smothered with  
maternal  
love and affection, or at being loaded down with  
more frozen food than he could eat in a month, even with Meg  
and  
Fraser's help.  
        He took a trip back to  
the apartment, to place all the  
food in the freezer and found a  
message from Meg on the  
answering service telling him she'd be late again, and to  
please come by the embassy ASAP and bring Fraser's  
medication. He hit himself in the head for not remembering  
to give Meg, Fraser's midday dose of the medication he took  
morning, noon and night. He found the pill box and counted  
out enough pills to cover the midday and evening dosage and  
slipped the box into his pocket.  
        Pills taken care of he  
set one of the preprepared meals  
in the sink to thaw and made a  
quick check of the cupboards,  
drew up a list of food to buy and  
was about to leave when  
the phone rang.  
        He raced across the apartment  
to answer it before the  
answering machine kicked it, but didn't  
reach it in time. He  
heard Meg's message kick in and snatched up  
the phone  
cutting it off.  
        "Meg?"  
        "No. Who I am speaking  
too?" The caller asked.  
        "Ray  
Vecchio, what's it to you?"  
        The  
caller hung up. Ray wondered what it was about  
while he switched  
the machine back on, and stopped worrying  
about it when he saw the time. He rushed around, snatching  
up the shopping list and keys running out.  
        He reached the consulate  
in a new personal best time  
and was ushered into Meg's office where  
he handed her the  
pill box, and she handed him an envelope and gave him a very  
thorough  
kiss right in front of Constable Cooper and the new  
deputy liaison  
officer. They scuttled off, to spread the  
news to the rest of the staff no doubt.  
        Ray didn't look at the  
envelope till he returned to the  
car and his eyes bugged out when  
he found that it contained  
a cheque for several thousand dollars. He read the note  
attached and was amazed to discover he'd spent that much  
money on his studies.  
        He made a quick trip  
to the bank to deposit the cheque  
and make a large withdrawal, then  
he was off to do the  
shopping, dropping into a computer shop on the way. He  
walked out with a brand new laptop with a fax modem a pile  
of programs, manuals and a flat bed scanner.  
        By the time Meg returned  
with Fraser he had the laptop  
and modem set up, and dinner sitting  
on the table. After the  
meal was demolished, Fraser followed him  
over to the  
computer while Meg took care of the dishes.  
        Fraser nudged Ray away  
from the computer and began  
tapping away. Ray let him play with  
the computer and joined  
Meg in the kitchen.  
        "A computer?"  
        "For my studies.  
I can do my work on it and reduce the  
amount of paper I waste writing  
up my notes."  
        "And the scanner."  
        "Well when  
I told the salesperson what I wanted it for,  
he talked me into buying  
it. He said I could use it like a  
photocopier. They had a special deal on, I also got a free  
printer, but they were out of stock on those, it'll be  
delivered here by courier as soon as they get some new stock  
in."  
        "Have you decided  
which course you'll undertake?"  
        "It  
depends on wether or not we can get the care order  
extended. If  
not, then we can't stop them shipping Benni to  
a psychiatric hospital, and there's no reason for me to stay  
here  
or continue my studies."  
        He didn't see Meg's reaction  
to that as he turned to  
set a plate aside. He didn't want to see  
her nodding, but  
that's not what she was doing.  
        -Don't agree with me-  
        {Look on the bright  
side, at least you didn't make an  
utter fool of yourself by declaring  
your undying love or  
anything like that.}  
        "Of course if the  
order is extended, then.. I'll  
continue my studies. I talked to  
my mother about it today,  
and.. I wrote to that college you told me about, asking them  
to  
slot me in for the scholarship exams."  
        "So you're thinking  
about going to Canada to study?"  
        {Say  
yes, say anything else, and I'll kill you where  
you stand.}  
        "It would help Benni  
too, wouldn't it? And you'd be  
able to spend a little time with  
your family. And being back  
in Canada might be good for him."  
          
                        *~~~~~~~~~~*=@=*~~~~~~~~~~*  
  
        Over the next week Fraser  
began to display more and  
more spontaneous action, twice joining  
the Meg and Ray in  
the bed they now shared. On the evening of the new week Ray  
returned from a shopping trip to replenish their supplies to  
find  
Meg and Fraser both dressed in Dress Red's their hands  
behind their backs, just watching him as he carted in the  
shopping and packed it away.  
        "Planning to take  
advantage of his state to put him  
guard at the door, milady?"  
he teased.  
        He discovered a moment  
later that what they had behind  
their backs was more than hands,  
they also hand cuffs. He  
was marched off to the bed roof the have his wrists cuffed  
to the bed posts, where Meg announced he had to be strip  
searched for contraband and ordered the constable to proceed  
slapping  
a pair of latex gloves into his hands. Fraser  
snapped them on and gave strip search and frisk a whole new  
meaning to Ray.  
        What followed gave Ray  
a definite taste for Bondage and  
being dominated by certain dragon  
lady and declaring that he  
was most definitely Bi-Sexual making  
them laugh. Ray tossed  
Fraser's medication for the day down the sink and celebrated  
his  
improvement with a glass of champagne and a trip to an  
expensive Italian restaurant.  
        The trio was enjoying  
the night out until Ray noticed  
someone at a nearby table was paying  
just a little too much  
attention to them for his liking and cut the evening short.  
        The next day, he opened  
the door at a knock to find the  
same man at his door with a woman  
in a business suit  
carrying a briefcase. They flashed their I.D and he let them  
in  
to inspect the apartment. They interviewed Fraser, who  
had nothing to say. Then they interviewed him. Midway  
through it his watch started beeping and he excused himself.  
Fraser  
disappeared into the bathroom and Ray followed him  
in. He was praising Fraser when they left the room and moved  
to  
the kitchen where Ray prepared lunch for Fraser while  
Fraser sat himself down at the table to wait. Once he had  
the simple meal ready he set it before Fraser who started  
eating while Ray fetched his pills and a glass of ice water  
to wash the medication down with.  
        When he returned to the  
lounge he found one of the  
officers writing in a note pad.  
        "You have a regular  
meal schedule?"  
        "For  
Benni, yes, he's got 4 different kinds of  
medication he's gotta  
take, and it really should be taken  
with meals and I make sure he gets a meal with all of them."  
        "Snacks?"  
        "Meg brings fresh  
fruit home every few days. When he's  
hungry in between meals, he  
knows where the fruit is and  
gets himself a piece."  
        "I noticed you were  
praising him when you left the  
bathroom."  
        "Well, we used to  
have to do everything for him. But  
he's started taking care of himself.  
I try to make sure he  
knows I noticed and praise him whenever he does something  
for himself."  
        The note taking one's  
pen flew over the pad.  
        They  
asked a few more questions about Fraser's general  
care, inspected  
the office that had been turned into  
Fraser's bedroom. Then while the female half of the team  
tried to get Fraser to answer a few questions again, the  
male half asked about their relationship. In particular the  
sexual side of things, pointing out the fact he was listed  
as Fraser's S.O in past medical records.  
        "The last thing  
he needs sex. What he needs is  
affection, to be shown he's cared  
for and cherished."  
        "So there is no  
sexual relationship?"  
        "That's  
right."  
        Which  
in a manner of speaking was true, while Fraser  
might join in on  
the foreplay side of things he didn't get  
involved when it came to full on sex.  
        "But there is a  
physical relationship?"  
        "Any  
time he wants a hug or a kiss or to just be held  
he knows we're  
there for him."  
        "*We*?"  
        "Meg too.. he's  
crawled into our bed a few times. He  
likes to sleep snuggled up  
between us. The sexual assault  
counsellor I consulted said that's a sign that he feels  
secure and safe with us."  
        "It doesn't affect  
your relationship with your  
Defacto."  
        "She feels the same  
way about Benni that I do."  
        The  
officer asked a few more pointed questions, then  
turned the subject  
to his relationship with Meg.  
        "How long have you  
been a couple?"  
        "We've  
been sharing the same bed for six months, give  
or take a week,"  
Ray said, telling the truth, without  
mentioning that sharing meant, sleeping in the same bed at  
different times for most of that time.  
        "So your relationship  
began after you became Mr  
Fraser's carer?"  
        "Well... yes and  
no.. In a manner of speaking it began  
while I was in hospital..  
I almost died in a car accident  
and she became a regular visitor.. And I had definite plans  
to explore how far things could go after I got out, then  
this happened to Benni, and when Meg made the offer to share  
the  
burden of care with me.. things just... fell into  
place."  
        "I see and do you  
have intentions to make the  
relationship official?"  
        "Funny I thought  
we'd already done that by statutory  
declarations regarding our relationship."  
        "I meant, do you  
have plans to marry?"  
        "Not  
at the moment.. I'm catholic, she's not, we're in  
two different  
police forces. Benni isn't going to be a  
zombie forever and when he's better.. I'll be returning to  
my precinct.. Though, she's been talking about going to  
Canada.. he thinks it would be good for both of us, meaning  
Benni and I.. Him because it's his country.. And he'd feel  
more comfortable there. Me because there's a college there  
where I can continue my studies.."  
        "Studies?"  
        "In psychology..  
I've been studying it by  
correspondence, so I can help Benni.. I've  
already attained  
the certification I need to start studying to gain an  
associate diploma, and there's this college in Canada that  
she sent all my certificates too.. They're trying to get  
mature age students, and they can handle Benni tagging along  
with  
me to classes and she can always rearrange her schedule  
to take  
over when I can't."  
        The officer asked a few  
more questions about his plans  
for the future, studies and how he  
fitted them into his  
duties as Fraser's primary carer. He didn't give any  
indication as to wether or not they were acceptable and  
finished the interview off by borrowing the phone to set up  
a physical exam for Fraser before departing with his partner  
to  
corner Meg at the consulate.  
        She returned home in  
a state of high anxiety and they  
spent the rest of the night worrying  
about their application  
to care for Fraser being turned down all  
because he chose  
the wrong restaurant to celebrate in.  
        Meg was so tense she  
ended up throwing up her  
breakfast, and if she could have trusted  
her deputy, would  
have called in sick. Instead she left to go to work, while  
Ray spent the morning pouring over computer manuals until he  
heard  
the door open. He looked around to Fraser walking out  
with Deif on his heels. Tossing the manual, Ray jumped out  
of his chair, racing after Fraser.  
        An hour later, Meg looked  
up from another mound of  
paperwork to see a sheepish Ray peering  
around the door,  
announcing he'd left the apartment without his keys. On  
impulse Meg collected her keys and decided to take the rest  
of the day off, she wasn't getting much in the way of work  
done anyway.  
        She joined Ray and Fraser,  
and made Fraser sit in the  
back of the car with Deif. After lunch,  
they took Fraser in  
for his exam and relaxed a little when the doctor announced  
that he was in fine health.  
        They returned to the  
consulate where Meg picked up a  
pile of paperwork to complete at  
home and her car. They were  
startled to find the Mental Health services  
officer on their  
door step when they arrived, and Meg's anxiety  
levels  
peaked. She managed to hide it well as she escorted him  
inside, with the men and wolf on their heels. Fraser sat  
himself down at the computer while Meg and Ray sat down with  
the  
MHS officer.  
        Nothing could wipe the  
smiles off their faces when they  
were informed the MHS had no problems  
with extending the  
order and making it an indefinite one. They considered  
Fraser's care to be more than adequate and Ray's efforts to  
educate himself to be a better Primary carer and future  
plans didn't hurt. Neither did it seem did their unusual  
relationship. The only thing that mattered was wether or not  
they  
were giving Fraser the level of care he required and  
they were satisfied he was getting a better level of care  
under Ray and Meg's supervision than he would in a mental  
hospital.  
        Fraser's medication went  
down the sink again as they  
celebrated their victory and Meg made  
two calls, one to the  
consulate asking for specific papers to be brought to her  
apartment, and one to Canada.  
        "Are you sure you  
want to go to Canada to continue your  
studies?" She asked Ray  
once the paper's were delivered.  
        "Yes."  
        She presented him  
with a pile of paper work and a pen.          
        "Then fill  
in this paperwork. The offer to swap posts  
with me is still open."  
  
                  
*~~~~~~~~~~*ooOO0=@=0OOoo*~~~~~~~~~~*  
  
                                        Part  
Ten  
                                  
*ooOO0=@=0OOoo*  
  
        A week later, Deif went  
into quarantine and Ray sat in  
his car with Fraser watching Meg  
give the removalists last  
minute instructions, and making dire threats about what she  
would do to them if anything was damaged. When she finally  
the two men in the car they headed for the airport.  
        "I've already made  
arrangements with a relator to begin  
looking for a house that will  
be close to both the college  
and my new post. He said there are six properties, that we  
can occupy immediately that fit my criteria to look at,  
we'll visit them all tomorrow. I'll take pictures and send  
them to you via e-mail so you can look the properties over."  
        "I trust your judgement."  
        "Are you sure  
you won't come with me?"  
        "I'm  
not going to be seeing my family for a while, Meg,  
I think I should  
spend some time with them before I head to  
Canada."  
        "Perhaps Fraser  
should come with me."  
        In  
the end after a discussion that lasted all the way  
to the ticket  
counter, Fraser accompanied Meg on her flight  
out and Ray returned home. Half way home, his watch started  
beeping at him and he could have kicked himself for not  
swapping watches with Meg. His was programmed to do more  
than just beep when it was time to give Fraser his  
medication. The tiny LCD display also listed what medication  
he  
was supposed to have at those times which is why he'd  
brought the high tech digital watch in the first place.  
        "Oh, well, she's  
sure to ring me up when they touch  
down to ask me what she should  
give him tonight."  
          
                        *~~~~~~~~~~*=@=*~~~~~~~~~~*  
          
        Ray settled down on his  
bed, rubbing his temples, as  
his head throbbed with what promised  
to become a doozy of a  
headache. He was rolling over and opening the bedside drawer  
to  
search for the pack of headache pills he kept there when  
he heard Frannie shriek "Raaaay! Phone!"  
        With a little groan he  
bolted up and raced out of the  
room. He wondered who the hell was  
calling and glanced at  
his watch before he raced down the stairs. By his estimates  
Meg and Fraser should have set down in Canada by now, it was  
most  
likely Meg ringing to tell him they'd arrived. He made  
a mental note to discuss Fraser's medication and grabbed the  
phone  
from Frannie as he came to a skidding stop by the  
phone.  
        "It's Fraser,"  
Francesca informed him.  
        "What?!  
Benni?? Is that you? Say something."  
        "Meg."  
        "What about  
her? Did something happen to her?"  
        =Of  
course something happened, it's the first time he's  
spoken in God  
knows how long. God, don't let her..=  
        "Meg fainted."  
        "What? Where?"  
        "Airport."  
        "Which one?"  
        "Don't know..  
They took her away."  
        "Rrright..  
O.K Benni, listen very closely, I want you  
to think about this.  
Did you get on the plane?"  
        "Yes."  
        "O.K.. Did Meg get  
on the plane?"  
        Fraser  
had to think about that.  
        "Yes..  
but they took her away.."  
        "She  
fainted on the plane?"  
        "Yes."  
        "Before or  
after it took off."  
        "Before."  
        "And they took  
her off the plane?"  
        "Yes."  
        "Great.. Look  
around and try to describe exactly where  
you are for me, can you  
do that for me, Benni?"  
  
                        *~~~~~~~~~~*=@=*~~~~~~~~~~*  
  
        Ray's intention to spend  
time with his family went  
right out the window. He managed to get  
Fraser to get an  
airport official to come to the phone, and arranged to have  
someone watch him. Then he tried to find out what happened  
to Meg. He didn't get very far. He ended up throwing his  
bags back into the car, and drove to the airport, with  
Frannie. He collected his bags, opened his mouth and almost  
warned her not to wreck his precious car, then the voice in  
his head that he called the headshrinker piped up. Instead  
of telling her to be careful, he told her to take care, that  
he'd  
ring when he touched down, and raced off.  
        He made it to the ticket  
counter in time to get a  
ticket for a flight he just had time to  
check his bags in  
for. He was settled back in his seat after the plane took  
off and tried to ignore the tension headache that had taken  
hold and made his head pound. Then he felt the seat move as  
someone sat in the empty seat beside him. A little voice in  
his head made note of the fact the seat hadn't been occupied  
when  
the plane took off.  
        He ignored it until a  
hand settled down on his thigh.  
His eyes flew open and he looked  
around to be confronted  
with the pale face of Meg.  
        "Meg!"  
        She put a finger to her  
lips and hushed him. He  
remembered where he was and adjusted his  
voice accordingly.  
        "What happened?  
I heard you fainted and when I tried to  
find out what happened after  
that.."  
        "They took me to  
the airport infirmary, I ate  
something, and they let me go."  
        "You fainted because  
you skipped breakfast?"  
        "I  
think I caught some kind of bug, I've been feeling  
off colour for  
the last week.. Or maybe it was just the  
stress."  
        "Tell me about it.  
I've got headache that just won't  
quit."  
        "Did you take something  
for it?"  
        "I  
was about to when the phone rang and I was too busy  
trying to work  
out how to find you and take care of Benni."  
        She  
opened her mouth to inquire about him, but he beat  
her to it, covering  
her hand with one of his own.  
        "He's being looked  
after. He went on to Canada without  
you. He's the one who called  
to tell me what happened."  
        She  
looked at him in surprise.  
        "Not  
that he was very.. helpful. I've had far more  
erudite conversations  
with toddlers."  
        "But he talked..  
he hasn't done that since.."  
        "I  
know.. I couldn't believe it when Frannie told me he  
was on the  
phone. He is definitely turning the corner. The  
next thing you know we're going to be wishing he'd shut up."  
        Meg smiled.  
  
                        *~~~~~~~~~~*=@=*~~~~~~~~~~*  
          
        It took near on an hour  
and a half to sort things out  
at the other end of the airport, finding  
Fraser, collecting  
their luggage took up most of it. Fraser wasn't where he was  
supposed  
to be, the official who'd been keeping an eye on  
him having been called away to tend to some task. They  
eventually found him at a newsstand sitting in a chair  
obviously taken from the back of the stand, reading, and on  
the counter beside him sat a pile of magazines.  
        Fraser's face lit up  
when he saw Ray and Meg  
approaching them. They discovered the magazines  
on the  
counter had been chosen by Fraser. And Ray went through  
Fraser's bundle while Meg paid for them. The budding shrink  
in Ray found Fraser's choice of magazines interesting. They  
covered a whole range of topics, from women's glossies,  
decorating, cooking, pet care, two local magazines, three  
true life crime & mystery pulp magazines, a science fiction  
magazine, a renovators magazine, a bridal magazine and a  
literary magazine.  
        "Would you like  
a bag for those?" The stall worker  
asked.  
        Ray slid them into the  
bag the woman held open for him,  
thanked her, kindly, saw Fraser  
give a faint smile and the  
woman fluttered her lashes and gave Fraser a big smile.  
        "Any time."  
        Ray rolled his eyes  
and took Fraser's hand, leading him  
away with a loud, "Come  
along, Amante," for her benefit.  
When Meg caught up with them  
and wound her arm around his  
other arm, she was chuckling.  
        "So what did I just  
end up paying almost 50 dollar's  
for?"  
        "A very interesting  
range of magazines."  
        Fraser  
freed his hand and took the bag to rifle through  
it and pulled out  
the home decorators magazine to show it to  
Meg.  
        Meg took it and while  
they waited at the luggage  
carousel she went through it. Fraser  
took to standing at her  
shoulder and pointed to items that he found  
of interest. She  
chuckled when he tapped the magazine emphatically  
when she  
reached the SOHO feature and pointed at Ray.  
        "Birthday soon,"  
he said in a low voice.  
        She  
gave him a dazzling smile and marked the page,  
tucking it under  
her arm as Ray approached with three cases.  
        "See  
something you like?" Ray asked.  
        "In  
a magazine like this, there's always something to  
like, the question  
is wether or not you can *afford* to buy  
what you like in it."  
        She slipped the magazine  
into Fraser's bag and went to  
examine the luggage for her own and  
Fraser's. Ray found a  
trolley and loaded his bags on it, before rejoining Fraser.  
When he did, Fraser held out a magazine, folded open to an  
article. Ray took it and looked it over, then smiled. It was  
one  
of the true life crime stories, involving a police  
detective using psychological profiling to catch a wanted  
man of murderous inclinations.  
        "So you understand  
why I came here with Meg?"  
        Fraser's  
mouth opened, but he seemed to have trouble  
expressing his thoughts,  
instead he tapped the magazine.  
        "Learn to be like  
him."  
        "Maybe."  
        "No."  
        "No?"  
        Fraser had trouble  
finding the words to express him  
self and it showed. Ray stroked  
his arm.  
        "It's o.k, Benni."  
        "No.. It's  
not."  
        "Relax,  
it's not the end of the world. You made us  
happy just by starting  
to talk again."  
        "Hard..words..express..  
can't think straight."  
        A  
beeping alarm went off and Ray slid back his sleeve  
to look at his  
watch to see it was time for Fraser's  
medication. He looked up to see Meg approaching with a  
baggage handler pushing a trolley loaded down with luggage.  
When they arrived he pounced on a bag and pulled out the  
toiletries kit that held Fraser's medication.  
        "We have to find  
somewhere to get a meal, it's time for  
his medication."  
        "Can't we just call  
room service and get a meal sent up  
for him to take his pills with  
when we get to the hotel?"  
        Ray  
studied her face, which if anything had only grown  
more pale and  
drawn despite her pleasure at the positive  
proof of Fraser's progress, then nodded. It wouldn't hurt to  
put  
things off a little longer.  
        A little longer turned  
out to be over an hour and a  
half as they went looking for a cab  
during the shift change  
over. By the time they got to the hotel and settled the  
matter of a change in suites, everyone but Fraser was  
grumpy. And it seemed as time went by Fraser grew more  
animated as they got grumpier.  
        They finally got their  
accommodations settled and Ray  
asked if they could arrange for a  
doctor to pay a 'house  
call' and after the duty manager promised to arrange it, Ray  
sent  
Fraser up to the suite with Meg, while he made all the  
arrangements for dinner.  
        With the arrangements  
settled, Ray joined the duo in  
the suite and found Fraser on the  
couch, reading a magazine,  
and heard the shower. Leaving Fraser  
to his reading, Ray  
joined Meg in the shower, more out of a desire to make sure  
she didn't faint in the shower than anything else. He sent  
her to bed wrapped in one of the hotel's fluffy towelling  
robes, and then went in search of their bags, to find the  
one holding Fraser's medication. He measured out a dose to  
take into account the fact he'd missed medication earlier  
and popped the pills into their cup before he checked the  
bar refrigerator. The was the usual array of miniature  
booze, cans of soft drink, snacks and two bottles of bottled  
water.  
He pulled one out and found a glass and set it on the  
table with  
Fraser's pills.  
        He left Fraser reading  
his magazine, and returned to  
the suite's main room to sit on the  
bed with Meg. They  
talked about the improvement Fraser was showing until Fraser  
poked  
his head around the door and told them there was  
someone at the door. Ray went to answer the door and found  
the Doctor and room service on the door step. He directed  
the Doctor to Meg's room, and took the tray from the porter.  
        Once  
he had Fraser seated at the dining table with his  
meal, he returned  
to the bedroom. Fraser looked at his pills  
then ignored them to  
begin demolishing his meal. By the time  
Ray returned, Fraser had  
not only demolished his own meal  
but made inroads on Ray's.  
        "Who's hungry tonight."  
        Fraser looked up  
a little guilty and stopped eating to  
push the plate toward Ray.  
Ray pushed it back and noticed  
that Fraser hadn't taken his medication.  
        "Take your pills,  
Benni, and if you're still hungry  
after you polish off my dinner  
then I'll order something for  
desert when I ask them to send me  
up something else."  
        Fraser looked at the  
pills again and then pushed them  
away.  
        "Pills are bad."  
        Ray pushed them  
back.  
        "The  
doctor prescribed them, if you don't keep taking  
them they'll take  
guardianship away from us and put you in a  
psychiatric hospital.  
You don't want to go to a nut house  
again do you."  
        A vague memory stirred,  
of being in a straight jacket  
in a padded cell with Ray at his side  
struggling to get out  
of the straight jacket he was in, and Fraser reluctantly  
swallowed the pills.  
        "Good," Ray  
said with a little nod.  
        He  
watched Fraser start eating again and hunted up the  
room service  
menu.  
        "O.K we've got a  
few deserts on offer here.. Do you  
want me to read out the list  
or should I just pick something  
out for you?"  
        Fraser just looked at  
him.  
        "Alrighty,  
I'll just pick something out.."  
        He  
left Fraser to his meal while he called room service  
and ordered  
another meal and something simple for desert,  
something he wouldn't mind eating if Fraser's appetite  
vanished before it arrived. With that done he returned to  
the dining table to watch Fraser eat and the budding  
headshrinker in him started prodding Fraser, asking  
questions designed to judge his state of mind. Fraser  
expressed concern for Meg's health, and Ray assured him it  
was nothing serious. Probably just stress.  
        "I know how she  
feels.. I've got a killer headache."  
        "Perhaps  
you should take something for it."  
        "I  
will.. Later.. The doctor'll probably prescribe  
something and I'll  
have to go and find a pharmacy to pick it  
up, and I'll get something  
for my head ache while I'm there.  
Now enough about me, how about  
you. How do you feel?"  
        "Better."  
        "As opposed to what?"  
        "Before."  
        "Before.. we  
got here, before you got on the plane,  
before what?"  
        That question was a little  
too difficult for the  
befuddled man to comprehend.  
        "I see.. hmm..   
Do you understand what's going on? By  
that I mean, why you're with  
us."  
        Fraser thought about  
that and nodded slowly.  
        "I've  
been sick... You and Meg have been taking care of  
me," Fraser  
said, his speech becoming a little slurred.  
        "Yes,  
that's right.. So you do understand what's going  
on. That's good..  
We had to convince the Mental Health  
Department that we could take good care of you to be able to  
keep  
looking after you. They wanted to put you into a mental  
hospital  
and lock you up.. We had to convince them you were  
better off in our care than you would be in a place like  
that."  
        "Is that why we  
came here? I thought.."  
        Ray  
smiled reaching out to pat his hand.  
        "It's  
O.K, we convinced them to let us keep you with  
us. We didn't sneak  
away to keep you out of that place.  
Though trust me, if they'd tried to take you away, I would  
have done it. I knew you were getting better, locking you up  
at  
that stage could have ruined all our good work."  
        "I'm getting better?"  
Fraser asked.  
        "Yes  
you are.."  
        Something  
nagged at Fraser, but it was getting harder  
to think straight and  
grasp the thought let along express  
it. With some hard thought on the matter it came to him.  
        "Is Meg pregnant?"  
Fraser blurted before the thought  
could slip away on him again.  
        Ray stared at him, then  
gave a sad smile and shook his  
head.  
        "No.. I think it's  
just all the stress catching up with  
her. What she really needs  
is a break, but she's not going  
to get one.. But now you're getting better, half the  
pressure will be off."  
        Fraser thought about  
it, with a confused little frown.  
        "Are  
you sure she's not pregnant?"  
        "Yes.  
Very."  
        "Are  
you absolutely positive?"  
        "*Yes*."  
        He watched Fraser  
look toward the bedroom where Meg and  
the Doctor were, concern etched  
on his features. He was  
ready to stress the point further when Fraser looked his way  
again,  
his mouth opening then the thought slipped away and  
Fraser slowly closed his mouth with a confused look.  
        Ray was about to continuing  
prodding Fraser when there  
was a knock on the door and he left Fraser  
in his state of  
confusion to answer it. The knocker turned out to have been  
sent up with his meal and Ray collected it and as he walked  
back to the table uncovering his meal and inhaled the  
wonderful scent he mused that Fraser eating the first thing  
he'd ordered wasn't so bad, this meal smelled even better.  
        When he returned to the  
dinning Area he found Fraser  
had left the table to stand before  
the window looking out at  
the view of the city at night. With a  
rumble Ray's stomach  
reminded him he hadn't eaten all day and he sat and managed  
to get half the meal down before the door to Meg's room  
opened and the doctor stepped out, closing the door quietly  
behind him.  
        Ray looked up and then  
pushed his plate aside standing  
to join the doctor.          
        "How is she?"  
        "Are you Raymond?"  
        Ray nodded.  
        "She's fine, it's  
nothing that a little rest won't  
cure," the doctor said pulling  
out a prescription pad and  
tearing off the top sheet.  
        "These will help  
with the nausea, make sure she takes  
them at least 20 minutes before  
meals."  
        Ray took the proffered  
prescription and tucked it away  
in his pocket before escorting the  
doctor to the door and  
pulling out his wallet.  
        "I don't have any  
Canadian yet, we only just touched  
down.. Can I pay with American?"          
        The Doctor quoted  
a fee and Ray paid it without  
argument and sent him on his way.  
His meal remained  
forgotten as he hurried back to the dining/lounge area and  
tugged Fraser away from the window. He wasted no time  
getting Fraser bathed and tucked into bed then he peeked in  
on Meg to find her sleeping peacefully in the big bed that  
occupied the main bedroom of the suite.  
        A trip to lobby, a question  
and a taxi ride to an all  
night pharmacy later, Ray returned to  
throw out the remains  
of his dinner, put the desert into the refrigerator, and  
downed two aspirins before he checked in on Fraser and Meg  
again. Meg was still sleeping, though she'd flipped over and  
was  
now hugging a pillow to death. Fraser had gone to sleep  
and Ray smiled to himself when he saw that for the first  
time in a long time, Fraser was sleeping in a bed alone  
without curling up into a tight little ball. In fact he and  
Meg had something in common, they were both hugging pillows  
as they slept.  
        Slipping into the master  
bedroom, Ray filched two of  
the pillows and found spare blankets  
hidden in the wardrobe  
that he carried out to the lounge. He tested the lounge  
chair and found it held a fold out bed. In no time at all he  
had  
the bed out and made and crawled under the blankets  
ready to try and get some sleep himself.  
        He tossed and turned  
restlessly for an hour before he  
crawled out of the bed and crept  
through the suite into the  
kitchenette to down two more aspirin. When he returned to  
the lounge/bed he found that someone had crept out and  
slipped under the blankets. it was hard to tell who, all he  
could see over the top of the blankets were a few dark  
curls, and both Fraser and Meg had dark hair.  
        With a little shrug he  
climbed back into the bed to  
settle down and a few moments later  
discovered the other  
occupant of the bed was Fraser when the half doped Canadian  
snuggled down at his side and murmured slurred endearment's  
that made him chuckle softly as he started drifting off to  
sleep.  
        When he awoke Ray discovered  
there was more than one  
Canadian sharing his bed, Meg had crawled  
in at some point  
in the night and he was being cuddled on both side's by two  
apparently very content Canadians if the little smiles on  
their faces were anything to go by.  
        "How anyone can  
smile after a night on this torture  
rack is beyond me.." Ray  
grumbled as he tried to wiggle out  
of the Mountie sandwich he was  
caught in.  
        His efforts to slip away  
woke both Fraser and Meg. Meg  
was the first and he noticed it.  
        "How are you felling?"  
He asked solicitously.  
        "Much  
better," she said as she let her hand wander over  
his body.  
        "And you?"  
        Her hand wandered  
lower and another hand started  
wandering over his back and he felt  
Fraser's breath on his  
neck before his lips touched it.  
        "Am I the only one  
in this suite who isn't feeling  
frisky right now?" He asked.  
        "You still have  
your headache?"  
        "No..  
After a night on this, that ache migrated to my  
spine. And as much  
as I enjoy being a part of a Mountie  
Sandwich.."  
        His half heart protestations  
trailed off as Fraser's  
hands moved over his back and neck, finding  
the tension  
there before he started an expert massage. Ray almost purred  
as  
Fraser's nimble fingers moved over his spine taking away  
the aches and pains. But Fraser's hands weren't the only  
busy ones. Meg's got busy too.  
        Meg stopped and sat up  
to look at Ray when he suddenly  
froze his eyes widening.  
        "What is it? What's  
wrong?"  
        Ray  
looked over his shoulder at Fraser who was close as  
he could get.  
Then the Italio-American rolled and raised the  
blankets to peek  
under them.  
        "Ohmigod."  
        "What is it?"  
        Ray laughed.  
        "Raymond Vecchio  
if you don't tell me what's going  
on.."  
        Ray looked at her.  
        "Its Benni."  
        Meg looked at Fraser  
who looked quite content to  
continue stroking and kissing Ray all  
day.  
        "What about him?"  
        "How should  
I put this.. He's *very* interested in this  
mountie sandwich idea."  
        Meg frowned, then looked  
under the blankets and her  
eyes widened.  
        "Now might be a  
good time to get out of bed and let me  
take care of him."  
        Ray considered that,  
then nodded before he shifted  
around to give Fraser a quick kiss.  
        "Good morning to  
you too," he said, then switched  
places with Meg before sliding  
out of the bed to head for  
the shower leaving the Inspector to deal with Fraser.  
        Fraser looked around,  
following Ray's movements with a  
faint look of disappointment that  
Meg wiped off his face  
while Ray took a cold shower.  
        Meg jumped into the shower  
while he was in the bedroom  
changing, and Ray was getting Fraser's  
medication and  
breakfast sorted out while she changed. Meg slipped out of  
the suite while he was occupied and it wasn't till late in  
the day that she returned, while Fraser was taking a nap.          
        "Well, I hope  
your day was more productive than mine,"  
Ray said as he wandered  
into the kitchenette to make coffee.  
        "Nothing  
happened?"  
        "Not  
a thing. He didn't even talk to me, or show any  
interest in his  
magazines either. All though he did pay  
attention when I read an article or two from them to him."  
        "He didn't try to  
get affectionate with you did he?"  
        "Apart  
from this morning, no."  
        "Good."  
        "Maybe."  
        "It won't be  
a problem after tonight."  
        "Oh,  
why?"  
        "The  
house has locks on every bedroom door, you can  
look yours to keep  
him out while you sleep."  
        "I can't lock the  
door, he might want to crawl into my  
bed and snuggle up next to  
me."  
        "That's exactly  
why you should lock your door from now  
on. Today is *not* the first  
time he's shown a definite  
interest in sex."  
        "Are you talking  
about beyond.. foreplay here?"  
        She  
nodded.  
        "Why didn't you  
mention it?"  
        "It  
never went anywhere."  
        "Why  
not?"  
        "Because  
he looses interest pretty fast, there are so  
many ways to turn him  
off in an instant."  
        Ray handed her a cup  
of coffee and hurried off to find  
a note pad and pen before collecting  
his own coffee.  
        "Do me a favour,  
think hard about it, and write down a  
complete list of all the things  
you've noticed that turn him  
off in an instant," Ray said handing  
her the pad.  
        She nodded heading for  
the dining/lounge area with Ray  
on her tail.  
        "If you won't lock  
your door. Memorise this list,  
knowing how to turn him off in a  
hurry might help you avoid  
a situation you don't want to get into."  
        "Meaning Fraser  
deciding he wants to have sex with me."  
        "He  
decided that this morning. The question now is not  
wether or not  
he's ready to go that far, but wether or not  
you're ready to cross that line with him."  
  
                  
*~~~~~~~~~~*ooOO0=@=0OOoo*~~~~~~~~~~*  
  
                                        Part  
Eleven  
                                  
*ooOO0=@=0OOoo*  
  
  
                                        Part  
Eleven  
                                  
*ooOO0=@=0OOoo*  
  
        They say the only thing  
that causes as much stress as  
the death of a family member or loved  
one is moving house.  
Which explained why Meg was grumpy as hell and his head ache  
only  
went away when he downed at least four aspirin to hold  
it at bay.  
        On the other hand there  
were moments in time, small  
moments at that, which put a smile on  
Ray's face. Like the  
day he'd taken Fraser for a walk. Fraser had plucked a  
flower from somewhere and watched him, walking along,  
plucking the flower, muttering he loves me he loves me not  
until there were no more petals left. The last petal had  
been a "He love's me" one, and Fraser had spontaneously  
grabbed and kissed him till he thought he'd pass out from  
lack of air.  
        And then there were times  
Ray just wanted to bang his  
head against a brick wall. Fraser's  
improvement was on one  
hand worth celebrating, and on the other, a little  
frightening. He was childlike, except for one area, sex.  
Since the move Fraser had grown more and more interested in  
displays of physical affection. And on more than one  
occasion responding to his need for it had lead to things  
reaching the point where he had to choose wether to cross  
the line or not.  
        His decision was always  
the same, he wasn't ready to  
cross that line, even if Fraser was.  
The funny thing was,  
the more he rejected crossing that line with Fraser, the  
more interested Fraser became in crossing it. In the end Ray  
took  
up Meg's suggestion and started locking his bedroom  
door when he went to bed.  
        Of course Fraser got  
grumpy about it. Like a child  
deprived of it's favourite toy. And  
it was at those times  
Ray wondered if that was how things were going to be, if  
Fraser was going to remain childlike for life, and felt like  
bashing  
his head against a brick wall.  
        He couldn't complain  
though. His studies were going  
exceptionally well. He'd made friends  
with a number of  
students who were studying the same courses, mostly younger  
people who had found the fact he was a cop, and a detective  
at that, to be awe inspiring. They were always asking him  
about cases he'd worked on. He was keeping up with his class  
mates  
in the psych and S.A.C classes, even though he did the  
bulk of the  
course load at home. But when it came to the  
criminology classes he was king of the hill, top of the  
heap, or had been till he and the course instructor had a  
very big disagreement in front of the entire class.  
        He just couldn't back  
down, and neither would the  
teacher, and it had been a rather ugly  
disagreement. Ending  
with Ray telling the teacher to get out of his Ivory tower  
and visit the real world sometime and walking out. He'd  
apologised later to the frosty teacher but ever since that  
day, no matter how hard he tried, how hard he worked, his  
grades for the criminology class spiralled downward. Then it  
came  
to the crunch, he had to do better than a pass mark, to  
remain in  
the class, he had to get through the criminology  
classes to make it into the profiling programme. If he  
failed, he was not only blowing his chances to get into  
profiling, but letting down Meg, and even Fraser.  
        The scholarship, gaining  
his psychology diploma,  
becoming a certified physiologist, it all  
hinged on his  
being able to do well in his chosen classes, *all* three of  
them. If he failed in one class, he'd loose the scholarship.  
Without  
the scholarship he couldn't afford to remain and he  
certainly couldn't ask Meg to cover his course fees.  
  
                        *~~~~~~~~~~*=*~~~~~~~~~~*  
  
        Meg found Ray slumped  
on the love seat that was the  
main feature of the large verandah  
that faced a view to die  
for. She'd chosen the house for that view and the 5 rooms it  
had.  
Now they all had separate bedrooms, and had converted  
another into a study, the other into a library to hold Ray's  
ever  
expanding collection of text books.  
        She watched Ray and heaved  
a mental sigh. The move to  
Canada was supposed to have improved  
their situation. She'd  
thought it could only help - both Fraser and Ray. Instead,  
while Fraser had improved, he'd also become definitely  
grumpy. As for Ray he never joined her in bed any more. More  
often  
than not she found him slumped at his desk, dead to  
the world, with either a text book at his feet having fallen  
from  
his hands, or the computer glowing away displaying some  
text or  
another.  
        When he wasn't studying,  
he was clucking over Fraser,  
or had his nose buried in a recipe  
book. He'd started  
preparing more and more extravagant meals and kept the house  
so  
clean even a white glove inspection couldn't find a speck  
of dust.  
        The slim Italian grew  
slimmer with every day, he picked  
at his meals, when he ate, he  
seemed to exist on coffee and  
lots of it and had picked up the foul habit of smoking -  
most likely at the college. She remembered the first time  
she'd seen him smoking, it was outside the college, where he  
and  
Fraser had been standing with a group of students,  
mostly younger men and women. Ray had put a bit of distance  
between himself and Fraser and had been puffing away with  
the smoking half of the group. When she took him to task for  
it,  
he'd snapped "you'd prefer I took up drinking instead?"  
She hadn't said a word about his new habit since, other than  
to  
ask him to refrain from smoking around her and Fraser.  
        She wondered how everything  
had gone so wrong and  
heaved another sigh. Ray looked at her, then  
his eyes  
started roaming over her in a clinical fashion.  
        "Fraser was right."  
        "About what?"  
        "You're pregnant."  
        She flushed faintly.  
She still had her figure but she'd  
already gone up two bra sizes  
and it showed.  
        "Did you sleep with  
Fraser sometime I don't know  
about?"  
        "No. It's yours."  
        "That's impossible."  
        "When did you  
decide to start a family? Did you even  
want to try at that stage,  
or did you start trying because  
you thought it might save your marriage?"  
        Ray looked away.          
        "It's a statistical  
fact that a great many couples who  
try to have children when they're  
under stress fail - until  
the stress is removed and they relax. But then again, most  
couples in that situation break up."  
        "I'm surprised you  
decided to go through with it."  
        "Why?"  
        "You don't  
need to do it any more. They gave us an  
indefinite care order. You  
could have terminated when you  
found out and I'd have been none the wiser."  
        "Termination never  
even crossed my mind."  
        "When  
did you intend to tell me?"  
        "I've  
been trying to work out how, considering that I  
knew what you'd  
say when I told you. Besides which the  
Doctor says that unless I reduce the level of stress I'm  
under I'll miscarry."  
        Ray rose to his feet  
and Meg found herself being made  
to sit down on the love seat.  
        "You should apply  
for maternity leave."          
        "It's too soon  
for that and my work load is half what  
it was in Chicago, the staff  
under me are extremely  
efficient. I don't spend half my day's averting disasters,  
most of the stress is a result of worrying about Fraser and  
you."  
        "Me???"  
        "You're the shrink  
in training, psychoanalyse yourself.  
I can't remember the last time  
I saw you eat a decent meal.  
You seem to exist on coffee and cigarettes. Which by the way  
is  
bad for the baby, second hand smoke can affect a child in  
the womb."  
        Ray pulled the packet  
of cigarettes he had out of his  
pocket and crushed them.  
        "That's a start.  
But unless you start taking better  
care of yourself even if I can  
take this to term, you won't  
be around to see your child born."  
        Ray looked away.  
        =As if you'll want me  
around when you find out I lost  
my scholarship and had to drop out.=  
        "I don't understand  
you at all. Fraser is getting  
better, and you're acting like the  
end of the world is  
nigh."  
        "He's not getting  
better."  
        "How  
can you say that? He's improved drastically over  
the way he used  
to be. He talks now."  
        "The average toddler  
could hold a more intelligent  
conversation than he can."  
        "It's a start..  
He's also more active.. And I think  
he's grumpy because he's frustrated."  
        =It's called sexual frustration=  
        "He tries so  
hard to find the words to express himself  
but he can't seem to do  
it, and he gets frustrated when that  
happens and he can't express  
what he wants to, and that  
makes him grumpy."  
        Ray jumped up moving  
away, then spun to face her.  
        "Do  
you think I haven't tried to help him break the  
communication barrier,  
do you think I haven't tried re-  
education, teaching him how to express himself. Face up to  
it, Dante didn't just mess up his mind, he left Benni Brain  
Damaged. He's never going to get better, what you see is  
what you get. And all the wishes and hopes in the world  
aren't going to change that," Ray snapped before he stomped  
off.  
          
                        *~~~~~~~~~~*=*~~~~~~~~~~*  
  
        Meg despaired of Ray  
changing his ways when she found  
him slumped asleep in the chair  
of his office. The soft glow  
of the computer screen attracted her  
attention. She saved  
the file he was working on without looking at it and  
switched the machine off. Then her foot kicked something.  
She went down on her hands and knees to pull a stenographers  
note  
pad out from under the desk. Half its pages were  
covered with notes.  
        She was about to flip  
it closed when she realised all  
those notes were related to Fraser.  
She went through it  
seeing that he was keeping very clear and concise notes,  
sequentially dated, about Fraser's condition, what he ate,  
drank, what pills he took, what he did or didn't do. What  
he, Ray, had done for him during the course of the day, What  
she,  
Meg had done for him. At the bottom of each page was a  
0 to 10 scale each scale was marked with a red circle around  
the  
zero.  
        In curiosity she flipped  
through to the last page, then  
flipped back two to find the day's  
date. The first page was  
filled with his notes on Fraser's state, the next two were  
covered with notes of a different kind. He'd turned Fraser  
into a patient, the notes were his analysis of Fraser's  
state and what needed to be done to improve it. There was a  
list at the bottom of the last page.  
        Take Fraser to Doctor  
for physical  
        Put  
Fraser on diet  
        Design  
exercise regime  
        Find  
Magazines and spend an hour reading to Fraser,  
morning and afternoon.  
        Involve Fraser in activities  
that involve Deif, walks,  
brushing down, bathing and feeding.  
        She flipped to the last  
page and found Ray's plan  
involved trialing a plan to break Fraser  
of his dependence  
on himself and her. She tore a page out and made a few notes  
for  
herself and tucked it away in her pocket before she set  
the note pad aside and got the sleepy Italian up to his  
feet. Half leading, half dragging him through the house, she  
got  
him into the bedroom and tucked him into bed before she  
returned to the office to start going through the drawers.  
There she found what she was looking for.  
        Turning his computer  
on, she opened the account keeping  
programme and then began sorting  
through the collection of  
receipts and notes Ray had made keeping track of all the  
things he'd brought for Fraser.  
          
                        *~~~~~~~~~~*=*~~~~~~~~~~*  
  
        Ray sat Fraser down on  
a chair in the kitchen where he  
made a big deal of ripping up every  
recipe he'd collected  
for meals he thought Fraser would like.  
        "That's the last  
time I cook any of that."  
        Then  
he went through the cupboards and refrigerator  
throwing out all  
the ingredients for those meals which he  
couldn't use in other recipes. Then he pulled one of  
Fraser's women's magazine from under his coat and waved it  
before his face.  
        "You see this. You  
chose this. I don't know what it was  
that interested you about it.  
But there is something that  
interests me in it," Ray said, then poked Fraser in the  
belly.  
        "Recipes for Lo-fat  
meals. Which is all you're going to  
get from now on. You're getting  
pudgy because you don't get  
enough exercise."  
        The Ray whirled and using  
the magazine as a guide,  
collected all the ingredients he needed  
to start a meal.  
        "The Doctor says  
you need a lo-fat diet and more  
exercise so that's what you're going  
to get. Tomorrow you're  
going to meet your new carer, she's going  
to look after you  
during the day. I've got to do a lot of shopping. I'd take  
you with me, only it's too embarrassing to take you out into  
the  
real world."  
        Following the instructions  
he got the meal started,  
then marked the page before he fetched  
another chair and sat  
opposite Fraser and flipped to the first article  
in the  
magazine and started reading it aloud for Fraser.  
        He marked the page he  
was on when the timer went off  
and served up the meal taking Fraser  
through to the eating  
nook and left him there while he collected a glass of water  
and Fraser's pills.  
        He sat beside Fraser  
and counted out pills.  
        "The  
doctor told me to toss most of your pills. He said  
they were what  
left you feeling confused and gave you  
trouble trying to think straight. That was the sort of  
medication they use in psychiatric hospitals to turn  
patients into good little zombies. Your system got used to  
them, and they started loosing their effectiveness, that's  
why you started to get your wits back. These pills are  
different, well most of them are.. Now we've got vitamins,  
mostly, two different kinds of anti-depressants and a  
sedative, and you only get the sedative if you can't sleep  
or have one of your fits."  
        He got Fraser to take  
his pills then fed him and took  
him through to the bathroom to clean  
him up and started his  
toilet retraining.  
        When Meg returned she  
found them in the lounge, with  
Fraser dressed in baggy sweats while  
Ray directed him  
through some easy exercises. She left him to it and checked  
the refrigerator and instead of finding a meal prepared for  
her just waiting to be eaten, or popped into the microwave,  
she found the refrigerator was mostly empty. All that was  
left was a few vegetables, a piece of fruit, milk, juice and  
bottled  
water.  
        She went through the  
cupboards and found they'd been  
half emptied too. After exploring  
what was available, she  
collected her keys and went back out to drive away.  
        Ray finished with Fraser's  
exercise then called Deif  
and fetched his brush, making Fraser help  
him brush the  
beast down.  
        When Meg returned an  
hour and a half later, Fraser was  
tucked into bed, and Ray was seated  
beside it reading from a  
magazine.  
        He joined her in the  
kitchen half an hour later, to be  
presented with a plate of steaming  
Pasta and a glass of  
juice. She watched him wolf the meal down and go hunting for  
more.  
        "That's it."  
        "You didn't  
make any more?"  
        "I  
hunted down an Italian restaurant and got your  
favourite meal as  
take away. If you want more you'll have to  
make it yourself."  
        He wandered away, and  
she started doing the dishes. He  
returned with a note pad, a pile  
of magazines and book.  
While she cleaned up in the kitchen he sat in the nook,  
going through them making notes. When she was finished in  
the kitchen she made coffee for two and joined him in the  
nook.  
        "So how was your  
day?"  
        "Busy.  
I took Fraser to the doctor, he's going on a  
diet and exercise plan"  
        He showed her the book.  
        "He loaned  
me this book."  
        She  
took it and flipped through it, finding it full of  
recipes for healthy  
meals, directions on how to care for a  
brain damaged patient, and exercises for passive patients.  
        "I'm going to be  
pretty busy tomorrow, I've got to go  
shopping tomorrow and get some  
exercise equipment, and stock  
up on the right foods. Try to find  
a copy of that for  
myself, since he wants it back... Then I'll probably spend  
the afternoon in the kitchen cooking till I've stocked the  
freezer with enough food to keep him going for a month."  
        "What  
about your classes?"  
        Ray  
looked into his coffee cup.  
        "I  
quit."  
        "What?!"  
        "I don't see  
the point in continuing."  
        "No  
point!"  
        "What's  
done is done."  
        "I  
don't believe this, I came here to make it easy for  
you to carry  
out your studies without interfering with your  
care giving duties."  
        "You were the one  
who reamed me out for not taking  
better care of my self. Well I  
re-evaluated things, like  
what's important. And what's important here, is Fraser, and  
making sure you have no reason to get stressed out and lose  
Fraser's kid."  
        She wanted to deck him,  
her fingers curled up and it  
took a conscious command to her hand  
to make it relax.  
        "By the way.. I  
was wrong, about Benni.. He's not brain  
damaged. The doctor I took  
him too ran all sorts of tests.  
He said it was the medication he was on and that the reason  
Fraser started to improve was that he'd grown used to the  
medication and his body needed more to keep him zombiefied  
the way he was."  
        "No more medication?"          
        "Oh, no.. He's  
still gotta lot of pills to take.. But  
these ones are different.  
they're not supposed to make him  
docile and passive, and they'll help him through the  
withdrawal period without going nuts on us. I also spoke to  
the doctor about getting someone else in to look after  
Fraser during the day. He's got into a routine, we have to  
break it and provide the right sort of stimulus to bring  
back the man he used to be."  
        "You're going to  
need money to cover all this."  
        "Yeah."  
        She handed him a  
bank cheque for a thousand dollars.  
        "I  
opened up an account at that bank, it's near the  
college. They should  
have a cheque book and a key card for  
you by the end of the week. In the mean time that should  
cover things. If you need more just let me know."  
        Then she handed him another  
cheque.  
        "What's  
this for?"  
        "I  
went through your desk last night. You should keep  
better track  
of what you spend directly related to Fraser's  
care and your studies - since that is directly related to  
Fraser's care too. You've got an account keeping programme  
on your computer. I was up half the night getting all those  
  
receipts in order and calculating what you've spent.. From  
now on you give me the receipts and I'll keep track of your  
expenses."  
        "Oh.. Thank-you..  
I keep meaning to do it myself, but  
there's just so much work to  
do that I never got around to  
it. I did try to keep track of everything."  
        "You did a reasonable  
job of it."  
        "I  
did a lousy job."  
        She  
reached out taking his hand.  
        "I  
want you to rethink your decision to quit your  
studies, Raymond.  
Especially in light of the fact you've  
arranged for a part time carer. We can schedule things so  
that he or she or I can care for Benton when you have to  
attend classes or need to devote more time to studying."  
          
He shook his head.  
        "It's  
not that.. Like you said. I gotta start taking  
better care of my  
self, and something had to give. I chose  
to give up the thing that was causing me the most stress.  
Those correspondence courses were easy compared to what I've  
been  
studying here."  
        "I never figured  
you for a quitter."  
        His  
eyes flashed.  
        "I  
am not a quitter."  
        "No..  
It sounds as if that's what you're becoming. You  
were ready to give  
up on Fraser. You quit your studies  
because they're harder than you thought they'd be."  
        He yanked his hand away,  
or tried to. She wouldn't let  
him do it, wrapping her other hand  
around his.  
        "Something has been  
eating away at you for weeks now.  
And don't tell me it's just the  
sheer hard work. You  
wouldn't turn down my offer to look after Fraser to give you  
more  
time to study if it was."  
        He sighed, looking away.  
        "Tell me what  
it is.. Maybe I can help."  
        "You  
can't help."  
        "You  
never know.. Perhaps.."  
        "I  
lost the damned scholarship."  
        She  
sat right back, that being the last thing she  
expected.  
        "What?! But you  
were doing so well."  
        "Yeah  
right.. I'm not cut out to be a student.. I could  
hold my own in  
the psych and SAC courses, but I was never  
considered anything but an average student in those  
classes."  
        "But you told me  
your mid term exams results put you in  
the top five student category."  
        "And I studied like  
crazy to get those results, but it  
just came easy to the others..  
Hell I remember one of the  
guys going on about how all he does at night is play music  
with his band or party all night.. And he got the top  
marks.. Me, I had to knock myself out to get the marks I  
got."  
        "You didn't have  
to knock yourself out in the  
criminology classes.. that should have  
come easy.."  
        He gave a very deep sigh.  
        "Don't tell  
me you had trouble in that class I won't  
believe it."  
        "I failed the exams..  
I had the lowest grades in the  
whole class.. And I lost my place..  
When I lost that, I lost  
the scholarship."  
        "I don't believe  
it.. How could you fail in  
*Criminology* of all things. You must  
know most of the  
subject material back to front."  
        "I do.. That's why  
I failed.. I had it out with the  
teacher in front of the whole class  
because what he was  
teaching them was dead wrong.. He was feeding the same pile  
of garbage that got drummed into my head at the police  
academy."  
        "And that makes  
it wrong."  
        "The  
stuff he was blathering on about was dead wrong.  
They stopped teaching  
it at the academy years ago for that  
reason. I corrected him and he didn't like that.. Or back  
down.. He's been making me pay ever since.. It wouldn't have  
mattered  
if I'd blitzed that exam, and I probably did, he  
had no intentions of giving me a passing mark."  
        "Appeal."  
        "What's the point?"  
He asked with a little snort, "It's  
his word against mine,  
and he's the *expert*."  
        "Wrong.. You're  
the expert. You're the one who's been  
out there, *doing* the things  
he only knows about through  
books and lectures. You're the one who has *practical  
experience* over theoretical knowledge. It makes no sense  
for a man with your experience to fail that class. If you  
make a complaint and demand an investigation, I'm sure  
they'll take it seriously and look into it."  
        "There is no point.  
I wouldn't go back to those classes  
even if they made him beg for  
forgiveness."  
        She studied him and knew  
it was a point he wouldn't  
budge on.  
        {If you won't stick up  
for yourself, then I guess it's  
my turn to kick a little butt}  
        She produced an airline  
ticket and waved it before his  
eyes.  
        "What..?"  
        "The semester is  
over soon. I thought it was the best  
time for you to take a holiday..  
A break from your studies  
and caring for Fraser. You were going to spend a week with  
your family.. Before you joined us here.. I think you should  
go  
home, back to Chicago and relax, forget about your  
studies, Fraser, me.. You need this - and don't tell me  
otherwise.. I'm sure your mother will take one look at you  
and shriek about how thin you are."  
        "And you shouldn't  
have to take care of Fraser when  
you're in a delicate condition."  
        "I'll have that  
carer you found to share the load with,  
and take Ben with me when  
I got to work. I've done that  
often enough during your exams to know he's no bother. He  
seems quite content to sit in an office with a pile of files  
sorting  
everything into alphabetical order," she said and  
pressed the  
ticket into his hand.  
        "You've got a week  
to think it over. I think you should  
return, if for no other reason  
than to get your car, I know  
you hate having to get around in Taxi's. It will save us a  
lot of money in the long run if you have your own vehicle  
again."  
        He gave a little sigh  
and she tried not to smile,  
knowing she'd won the battle with her  
last argument.  
          
                        *~~~~~~~~~~*=*~~~~~~~~~~*  
  
        Ray sat on the grass  
watching Fraser play with Deif in  
the secluded patch of forest he'd  
spent the last three hours  
driving Meg's car to reach. Fraser reacted  
so much better  
when he took him into a wilderness area. He seemed to relax  
and enjoyed himself. But for some reason, Fraser didn't seem  
to  
be enjoying himself as much today.  
        His game with Deif was  
half hearted and it seemed even  
the wolf sensed it. In no time at  
all Deif was curling up at  
Ray's side with a little whine. Ray gave  
him a scratch  
between the ears and watched Fraser approach to drop down  
onto the picnic basket beside him.  
        "What's the matter  
Benni? Not feeling well?"  
        "You're  
leaving."  
        Ray  
started.  
        "Going  
home.. To Chicago."  
        "Where  
did you..?"  
        "I  
saw the ticket."  
        "Oh..  
Well.. Meg got that for me, she thinks I should  
take a break, a  
holiday, to recharge my batteries.. Before  
the baby comes along."  
        "Baby?"  
        "Yes.. Baby.. She's  
pregnant."  
        Fraser's  
eyes lit up.  
        "A  
baby.."  
        "Yes..  
Meg is going to have a baby."  
        "You're  
going to be a daddy.. I think you'll be a good  
father."  
        Ray laughed and swatted  
him.  
        "Trust  
me, Benni, the kid's yours."  
        "No."  
        "Yes."  
        "No."  
        "It can't be  
mine."  
        "You  
have sex with Meg. The baby is yours."  
        "I'm  
not the one who goes creeping into other people's  
beds when he's  
feeling lonesome."  
        Fraser blushed a little.  
        "There is an  
old saying.. The spirit is willing, but  
the flesh is weak."  
        "And what is that  
supposed to mean?"  
        "That  
the baby is yours."  
        "Uh-uh,  
no way."  
        "I  
did not and have not.. had sex with Meg."  
        "Never?"  
        "Not the sort  
that produces babies."  
        Ray  
looked at him for a very long time.  
        "Meg  
does not want to cross the line with me."  
        Ray's  
brows defected.  
        "And  
neither do you.. I was grumpy about that, but I  
understand it now.."  
        "You do?"  
        Fraser looked off into  
the distance.  
        "Have  
I thanked you for taking me to the doctor and  
getting me off those  
horrible pills that made it so hard for  
me to think straight."  
        "No."  
        "I still have trouble...but  
it is easier now. I can  
express myself."  
        "I noticed.. Taking  
you to that doctor was the smartest  
thing I've done in a while."  
        "You are the best  
friend I've ever had."  
        Ray  
smiled.  
        "Or will ever have."  
        "Thank-you."  
        Fraser looked at  
him, then slowly started leaning  
toward him. Ray made no move to  
draw away, and when Fraser  
kissed him, he wrapped a hand around the back of his skull  
tangling his fingers in his hair returning the kiss. One  
kiss lead to another which lead to other things, which lead  
to Ray being grateful he'd chosen a very secluded patch of  
wilderness as he let Fraser strip away his clothes to  
worship his body from head to toe.  
        He let his friend and  
lover use his hands and mouth to  
bring him pleasure and then returned  
the favour much to  
Fraser's delight and pleasure. When it was over he looked  
down at Fraser lying bonelessly on the blanket with a look  
of such utter contentment and bliss on his face that any  
misgiving's he'd had, when he'd elected to explore taking  
things further, bit the dust.  
        He wasn't sure how far  
he was willing to go, but he was  
sure as hell willing to give Fraser  
the chance to show him  
just how good it could get.  
        He leaned over his blissful  
partner and kissed the tip  
of his nose, making Fraser open his eyes.  
        "You can say I love  
you that way anytime, Benni."  
        Fraser  
smiled and pulled his head down for a kiss. Ray  
was the one to break  
it up and toss his clothes at him.  
        "Meg's part of my  
life too now.. So if you're still  
feeling frisky, wait till we get  
home so we can get frisky  
with her, hmm."  
        Fraser dressed with a  
nod and Ray scrambled into his  
own clothes.  
        "I forget to ask  
if.. you're O.K with that  
arrangement."  
        "You mean.. a menage  
a trois."  
        "Yes."  
        "I have no  
problems with it."  
        "Good.  
Because I'd hate to have to chose between you, I  
don't know if I  
could make a choice like that any more," Ray  
admitted, then  
leaned over Fraser to give him another kiss.  
          
                  
*~~~~~~~~~~*ooOO0=@=0OOoo*~~~~~~~~~~*  
  
                                  
Part Twelve  
                                  
*ooOO0=@=0OOoo*  
          
        Fraser sat on Ray's bed,  
watching him pack for his  
break away.  
        "You and I are going  
to have a lot to talk about when I  
get back Benni. I'll give you  
a note pad before I go, I want  
you to use it. Write down anything  
you dream about. And  
anything that comes up that you want to talk about."  
        Fraser nodded slowly.  
Ray tossed his toiletries pouch  
into the case along with the latest  
psychology text book  
he'd acquired. The one he was in the middle of reading was  
tucked into his carry on luggage and both bags were closed.  
        "And stay out of  
trouble. Meg's in a delicate  
condition, she doesn't need any more  
stress at the moment."  
        "Yes,  
Ray."  
        Ray's  
watch beeped at him.  
        "Time  
to wash up."  
        Fraser  
jumped up and headed for the bathroom. Ray  
collected his bags and  
carried them out to place them near  
the front door, ready for the next morning. He was in the  
middle of selecting a meal for the day when he heard the  
phone ringing. The answering machine kicked in as he rushed  
through the kitchen and he stopped with his hand hovering  
over the hand set as he listened to Meg's voice tell the  
caller to leave a message after the beep. When he heard  
Meg's voice again he turned off the machine.  
        "You've got perfect  
timing, Meg, I was just about to  
get started on dinner."  
        :"Don't prepare  
anything for me," Meg said.:  
        "Oh.  
Are you feeling queasy again?"  
        :"No,  
something's come up here, and it looks like I'm  
going to be here  
for a while. I don't know when I'll be  
getting home.":  
        "Oh."  
        :"I didn't want  
you to waste food or wait up for me.":  
        -Well  
there go my plans for the evening-  
        "Are  
we talking an hour or two here or.."  
        :"Possibly  
longer. Don't worry about preparing  
something for me, I'll have  
dinner here. I sent Constable  
Williams out to get take away.":  
        "Oh, well.. I don't  
suppose you'd be back before Benni  
drops off will you?"  
        :"I doubt it.":  
        -Scratch that plan-  
        :"Don't worry,  
I'll be bringing him in with me in the  
morning. Don't forget to  
set your alarm, your flight leaves  
at Ten, I've already booked a taxi for you. It'll be  
arriving at quarter to nine.. That should get you to the  
airport in time. Don't forget to get your left over US funds  
from  
the safe...":  
        Ray listened to Meg prattle  
on about what he should and  
shouldn't do and a wicked impulse struck  
him.  
        "Are you alone right  
now?"  
        "For  
the moment."  
        "You  
realise you spoiled my plans for the evening."  
        "Plans?  
What plans? You didn't mention any plans."  
        "That's  
because I only came up with them this  
afternoon. And Benni and I  
both agreed there's someone else  
in this house who deserves a little attention."  
        "Ooooh."  
        "Mhhhm.. You."  
        "Oh and just  
what did you have in mind?"  
        Ray  
began telling her in great detail his voice  
dropping to a seductive  
little purr, his detailed  
descriptions peppered with the occasional bout of Italian  
love talk.  
        :"Oh, stop.":  
        He grinned.  
        :"Or I'll end up  
pouncing on you when I get home.":  
        Ray  
became even more descriptive, describing how he  
intended to carry  
out her favourite bedroom activities and  
heard her give a little sound that was half purr/half growl.  
        :"You're  
all talk, no action.":  
        He  
laughed and heard a creaking that he knew came from  
the door of  
her office being opened and it came through ear  
piercingly clear, even over the phone it set his teeth on  
edge  
        "God, get those  
door hinges oiled."  
        "It's  
the perfect kinetic energy intruder alert."  
        "Huh?"  
        :"Never mind.  
I have to go.":  
        "See  
you in the morning," Ray said before hanging up.  
          
                        *~~~~~~~~~~*=@=*~~~~~~~~~~*  
  
        It was a grumpy Ray who  
collected his luggage at O'Hare  
and stomped his way through the  
terminal. He'd spent half  
the night waiting for Meg to return, had to deal with Fraser  
having  
a nightmare, received a black eye in the process of  
waking him up. Somehow got him to take a sedative which sent  
the  
distressed man into a deep and dreamless sleep, and  
ended up lying on his bed, with an ice pack over his eye.  
        He didn't remember much  
beyond that, he was vaguely  
aware that Meg had been into his room,  
he'd woken up under  
the blankets minus the ice pack and half his clothes. He  
groaned when he saw that he'd managed to sleep through the  
alarm. That was if he'd even remembered to set it, and he  
couldn't recall doing it. As a result, he bolted out of bed  
with only five minutes to get dressed before the taxi  
arrived. He was hopping through the house trying to get his  
second shoe on, double checking that all the windows and  
doors were locked when the taxi arrived. He missed his  
chance to talk to Meg and Fraser before he left.  
        And things only got worse,  
the taxi suffered a flat on  
the way to the airport, and the driver  
had called for  
assistance, citing a bad back. Ray had ended up changing the  
tire  
himself, and the taxi arrived at the airport just in  
time for him to check in. There was no time to change into  
clean clothes. Just enough to hand his suit case over and be  
directed  
to the right gate to catch his flight, for which  
the final boarding call went out as he ran through the  
terminal.  
        To cap off his morning,  
he discovered his seat mate was  
a verbose old lady pushing 90 who  
babbled on and on about  
her family, showing him her collection of pictures of her  
children, grandchildren and great grandchildren along with  
telling him stories about each every one of them. It wasn't  
that he objected to her stories, it was her voice, it had a  
nasal quality that set his teeth on edge and after listening  
to  
it for three hours, he was ready to commit grannycide. It  
didn't  
help that the pilot kept announcing that a storm over  
Chicago was  
keeping them in the air.  
        He finally got so sick  
of it that he slipped out of his  
seat to pounce on a hostess and  
begged her to let him use  
one of the unoccupied seats, before he strangled the  
chattering old biddy that was his seat mate. Fortunately for  
all  
involved, the hostess took pity on him and showed him to  
an empty  
window seat.  
        He went from grump to  
foul tempered grouch after the  
plane finally landed and he discovered  
that even though he'd  
taken the time to call ahead and arrange for  
Frannie to meet  
him at the airport, she'd give up waiting, if she'd  
ever  
arrived, which is why he stormed through the terminal with a  
scowl  
on his face.  
        His face was transformed,  
as he exited the terminal to  
see his car parked at the curb, its  
paintwork gleaming.  
Frannie was leaning against the Riv, dangling his keys in  
one hand, holding up a thermos in the other. He dropped his  
case by her feet, collecting his keys before giving her a  
hug.  
        "And here I was  
thinking you'd left."  
        She  
patted his cheeks.  
        "Ma  
is going to have a fit when she sees you. You've  
lost so much weight."  
        He rolled his eyes and  
moved away to open the trunk,  
throwing his bags in.  
        "Don't start, Meg  
nags me about it enough as it."  
        "Not  
enough."  
        "Thanks  
for taking such great care of my car," Ray  
said, slamming the  
trunk closed.  
        "You're welcome."  
        "Not that I'm  
ungrateful or anything, but just forget  
any ideas you might have  
had about continuing to use it.  
It's going back to Canada with me."  
        She climbed into the  
car, belting up and pouring a cup  
of coffee as Ray climbed in. She  
reached out to wave it  
under his nose, and he took it to sip at it, and smiled.  
He'd almost forgotten what his favourite kind of coffee  
tasted like.  
        "How's Fraser?"  
        "Getting better  
every day."  
        "That's  
good news. How are your studies going? Ma said  
you were going to  
.."  
        "Don't ask."  
        "Oh.."  
        "Why don't  
you tell me how everyone's going instead."  
        Frannie  
took the hint and started chattering away about  
various things that  
had gone on while he'd been away. She  
was still chattering away when he pulled up in the driveway.  
He  
didn't get the welcome home he expected. The answer as to  
why became  
obvious when he walked into the silent house.  
        "Where is everyone,"  
he asked his sister as she stepped  
in behind him with the day's  
mail.  
        "Maria, Tony and  
the kids are staying with Tony's  
family for the holidays for a change.  
Ma won a holiday on a  
cruise liner, and decided to take it while they were away."  
        "Oh.. I guess I  
should have rang and told Ma I was  
coming back sooner."  
        "Meg called, but  
Ma and Maria had already made their  
plans at that time.."  
        "You're not going  
to vanish on me too are you?"  
        "Well..  
actually."  
        "You've  
got your own plans too."  
        She  
gave him a weak smile.  
        "Rrright."  
        "Meg said you  
needed a break, you'll have the house all  
to yourself for at least  
a week. Make the most of it. I'll  
be back on Saturday, Maria and the kid's will be back late  
Sunday and once they get back, you'll be wishing they stayed  
away  
a little longer. Why don't you go upstairs and get  
cleaned up. I'll get lunch started."  
        Ray gave a little nod,  
and headed for the stairs.  
        "You  
don't have to worry about food while you're here,  
Ma cooked up a  
storm before she left, the freezer is packed,  
all you have to do  
is pick what you want. Which should be  
fun."  
        "Oh, why?"  
        "Because she  
cooked all your favourite meals."  
        Ray  
laughed as he tromped up the stairs. He didn't  
notice Frannie sneaking  
up the stairs as he made his way up  
the hall. The only thing on his mind was getting some clean  
clothes and jumping into the shower to clean up. Those  
thoughts went right out the window when he opened his  
bedroom door, stepping in to stop dead in his tracks when he  
saw  
his bed. There wasn't a square inch of it that was  
covered with a brightly wrapped gift.  
        "Frannie!"  
        "Yessss?"  
She said by his ear.  
        Ray  
jumped and spun around to look at her.  
        "What  
is this?"  
        "Your  
birthday, Christmas presents for last year and  
your birthday presents  
for this year as well. Oh, and there  
are some for Fraser there too. They're the one's up near the  
head  
of the bed."  
        Ray looked at the bed  
again.          
        "We  
didn't know where to send them," Frannie said in  
way of explanation  
as she moved to the bed and picked up a  
brightly wrapped gift and held it out.  
        "This is from me."  
          
                        *~~~~~~~~~~*=@=*~~~~~~~~~~*  
  
        Ray forgot all about  
Lunch as he worked his way through  
the pile of gifts on his bed.  
He found more than one item of  
clothing, a few books, a key chain  
with a tiny replica of  
his car, which he wasted no time transferring his keys to,  
there were three jigsaw puzzles, one of them a 3-d puzzle, a  
new  
set of bed linen with matching curtains, courtesy of his  
mother,  
a new set of Lady Killer products, this time there  
was a bottle of aftershave, a cologne spray, a bar of soap,  
talc and shampoo. He made a mental note to see wether Meg  
liked it before he tossed it. It wasn't as if his mother  
would find out.  
        He opened up the last  
gift from his mother, and was  
glad that Frannie had dashed off down  
stairs to make the  
promised meal after watching him open her gifts. The last  
gift from his mother was a mortar board and robe, of the  
sort graduating students wore to their graduation ceremony.  
The note tucked inside made him feel worse than the actual  
gift did and he sat back just looking at it.  
        With a little sigh, he  
pulled out his wallet and tucked  
the note into it, making a mental  
promise to do what Meg  
wanted him too and try to appeal the withdrawal of his  
scholarship.  
        Setting the wallet aside,  
he looked the bed over again.  
There nestled among the presents was  
a parcel wrapped in  
brown paper, he reached out for it and looked it over,  
finding his own name and home address on it. There was no  
return address, but the postal stamp was for one of the  
local postal branches and judging by the date on it, it had  
arrived a few days after he'd moved into Meg's apartment.  
Wondering who'd sent it and why his mother hadn't given it  
to him when he'd returned before heading off to Canada, he  
set about unwrapping it to find an equally non descript box  
and opened it. With a pfft, he was blinded by a flash of  
light, as a cloud of smoke, complete with a foul stench,  
erupted from the box and he felt liquid splash all over his  
face, chest and hands which had flown up in reflex at the  
blinding flash.  
        The pain hit seconds  
later, and he realised what the  
liquid was at the same time as it  
started eating through his  
clothes and flesh.  
        -Acid!-  
        He staggered up to his  
feet, coughing as the foul smoke  
irritated his lungs. he couldn't  
draw in enough air to  
scream when the next wave of pain swept over him as the acid  
did  
its work. He fell to the floor with a thud, fighting for  
consciousness,  
fighting his own instincts, unable to scream  
for help, barely able to draw in air between hacking coughs.  
Somehow  
he managed to crawl to the door way and rolled over  
to his back. Kicking the door open he started slamming it  
into the wall, over and over.  
        He heard the sound's  
reverberating through the  
corridor, his sister's voice, then the  
sound of her approach  
and nothing more as he lost the fight for  
consciousness.  
  
                        *~~~~~~~~~~*=@=*~~~~~~~~~~*  
          
        Dressed in his dress  
reds, Fraser followed Meg, clad in  
her own dress reds, with the  
coat open because her bust line  
was exceeded the coat's ability  
to cover it. They strode  
together through the corridor's of the college. It was far  
from quiet, but then there were still a number of exams  
being held before it closed for the holiday period.  
        A student puffing away  
on a cigarette in the corridor,  
directly under a non smoking sign,  
looked up as the red clad  
couple strode down the hall.  
        "Which way to the  
Dean's office?" Meg asked.  
        The  
student pointed and Meg continued on her way.  
Fraser though stopped  
,and reached out to pluck the  
cigarette from the student's fingers before stubbing it out  
and proceeded to give the student a lecture on the effects  
of smoking on ones health, quoting verbatim an article he'd  
read in one of his magazines, complete with statistics.  
        The student listened  
to the whole lecture with a silly  
smile, waiting for him to finish,  
then informed Fraser it  
was pot, not tobacco.  
        Fraser stared at him  
for a good three seconds, then  
made him turn around and look at  
the sign on the wall, which  
apart from declaring the area a non  
smoking area, also  
stated that anyone caught smoking in it would be fined. Then  
he  
hauled the student off to the Dean's office.  
          
                        *~~~~~~~~~~*=@=*~~~~~~~~~~*  
          
        Ray slowly drifted back  
to consciousness, feeling no  
pain, thanks to copious amounts of  
pain killers he'd  
received intravenously after his arrival at the hospital. He  
became  
aware of the respirator tube down his throat first,  
the restraints around his arms second, and the presence of  
another person last.  
        He heard a thump near  
his head, felt the touch of a  
hand on his arm and tried to look  
around, but he couldn't  
open his eyes.  
        "Relax, Ray, you're  
in the hospital.. You're on a  
respirator, stop thrashing around  
like that, or they'll  
leave you restrained and I don't think you want that to  
happen."  
        Slowly Ray settled down  
as the voice of his former  
superior continued telling him to calm  
down, over and over  
in a soothing tone. He heard a door open and the sound of  
people entering. The respirator was disengaged, and he was  
fed ice chips that he swallowed gratefully, after gagging at  
the  
horrible taste in his mouth while the doctor waffled on.  
Nothing  
sunk in except the fact that the tube down his  
throat was gone.  
        He tried to raise a hand  
and remembered the restraints.  
He felt the touch on his arm again,  
heard Welsh telling him  
not to fight the restraints and turned his head in the  
direction of that voice.  
        "Wha.." he  
croaked.  
        "Relax.."          
        "M'eyes.."  
        "Have been  
bandaged."  
        Ray  
relaxed a tad and tried to remember how he ended up  
in the hospital.  
As soon as he thought about it, the memory  
of that vicious surprise package returned. Welsh didn't need  
to  
see his face, not that he could, it was covered in  
bandages, to know he'd remembered, he felt Ray tense up.  
        "Do you remember  
what happened? Don't try and say it,  
just nod if you do."  
        "Yeesss. Parcel.."  
        "There were  
three nasty surprises inside, a flash bomb,  
an acid bomb and a smoke  
bomb. The flash bomb blinded you,  
the smoke bomb chocked you, stopping you from calling for  
help or screaming when the acid hit."  
        "Frannie.."  
        "Yes, Frannie  
found you. And you have a lot to thank  
her for, according to the  
doctor. From what I hear she  
worked out you'd been splashed with acid pretty fast and  
slathered you with something that neutralised it fast.  
You've both got mittened hands now."  
        "Frannie burned  
too?"  
        "Just  
her hands from pulling your coat and shirt off to  
keep the acid  
from reaching your skin there. She didn't  
quite make it, but the burns there are considerably less  
severe than the ones to your face and arms."  
        "She here?"  
        "No. You've  
been under for the last three days. She  
went home this morning,  
though she'll back as soon as they  
notify her that you've come around."  
        "Family know?"  
        "She's let  
the rest of your family know. Your mother is  
on her way back now."  
        "Meg??"  
        "Who?"  
        "Dragon lady."  
        "Oh, Inspector  
Thatcher.. Unless your sister informed  
her, then no."  
        "Frannie.. doesn't  
know.. the number."  
        "Do  
you want me to call her?"  
        "NO.  
Don't.. tell.. Tell Frannie.. Not to tell Meg what  
happened."  
        "Did you two have  
a falling out, is that why you're  
back in Chicago?"  
        "Holiday.. Said..  
I needed.. a break.."  
        "Ah..  
Well. She has to find out some time."  
        "Don't  
tell.. I'll.. work.. out.. something.. later..  
Don't wan.. her to  
fin.. out.. She's.. in a delicate  
condition."  
        "Er.. Are we talking  
the kind of condition that last  
nine months here?"  
        "Yes.. Tol me..  
Doctor said.. she could loose baby if  
she didn't relax.. Don' wan  
her to loose baby.. Make sure...  
she doesn' hear.. what happened..  
"  
        Welsh nodded, then remembered  
he couldn't see him do  
it.  
        "I'll make sure  
Frannie get the message."  
        "Don..  
mention.. baby to Frannie please.. Juz tell her  
not to tell Meg..  
If she tells Meg, Meg'll fly out, get  
stressed and miscarry."  
        "So how do I tell  
her that she can't tell Thatcher  
without explaining why she can't  
do it?"  
        Ray gave a sigh that  
made Welsh's skin crawl.  
        "Can't..  
thiz is such a mess.. Got.. pad?"  
        Welsh  
pulled it from his pocket with a pen.  
        "Yes."  
        "Call Meg..  
Before she calls.. home to see how I am.  
Make up some story.. to  
explain away.. why.. I gotta  
disappear for.. a while.. Make it good.. but make sure it  
isn't something.. that'll.. stress her out."  
        "What's the number?"  
        Ray gave him the  
number for both Meg's office and  
home."  
        "We know who was  
responsible for that parcel, It was  
sent by the same person who  
scratched that message into your  
car. Forensic's went over the parcel  
and found a fingerprint  
to match one of the prints taken off your  
car when it was  
vandalised. And we've found a match for them, and went  
through your case files trying to find one involving him  
but.."  
        "Didn't find anything  
there."  
        "No.  
Does the name Dante Mc Intire mean anything to  
you?"  
        "Yesss.. Don' tell  
me.."  
        "He's  
the one who vandalised the car and sent that  
parcel."  
        "Noo..."  
        "We lifted his prints  
from the car and the parcel. He's  
the one who was behind it. That's  
why we haven't caught him.  
Apparently he was in Chicago for a few  
months, and flew out  
a week or two after the.. incident. He went back to  
Australia, where according to the Australian Federal Police,  
he's  
wanted for aggravated assault, rape, and attempted  
murder. They've been trying to capture him for almost a year  
now."  
        "Noo... Muz be a  
mistake."  
        "There's  
no mistake. We came up with a name after we  
ran the prints we lifted  
from the parcel. The Australian  
Fed's sent his particular to our guys months ago. They think  
he  
may have gotten out of the country, using a stolen  
passport he had in his possession."  
         "You gotta warn  
the RCMP that he got outta Australia  
using Fraser's passport.."  
        "He stole Fraser's  
passport?!"  
        "And  
all his Id.. he had it all.. He's the bastard that  
almost killed  
Fraser. I bet if you can track down Fraser's  
accounts here, in Chicago, you'll find out they were emptied  
out  
around the same time that parcel was sent to my place.  
Dante got his hands on the pass books for Benni's accounts  
here too.. And I knew Benni still had money in them.. He  
told me he didn't get a chance to close down the accounts  
when he headed down under, that he had enough money to get  
by on while he sorted out the mess he was in. And he had a  
trust fund set up, for Deif, so he'd be looked after if  
anything happened to him.. There was a few thousand dollar's  
in  
that account."  
        "Do you know which  
bank?"  
        Ray  
gave him all the details he could think of, and  
Welsh took them  
down.  
        "Is there anything  
else you can think of which might  
help us trace his movements?"  
        "Memorabilia."  
        "What?"  
        "He had all  
of Fraser's stuff.. Between them.. They had  
a collection of memorabilia  
worth thousands. But all Dante's  
assets were frozen and his property  
was seized.. Meg told me  
about it.. But he had Fraser's stuff..  
I never did get  
manage to get it back... Fraser told me about the  
collection.. Dante knows what it's worth.. He knows what  
Fraser had.. I'm not sure what it'd be worth but if what  
Fraser told me is anything to go by it was worth a few  
thousand dollars to collectors. And there was other stuff..  
I remember Benni telling me he had it all in storage.. but  
the place where it was stored was closed down and they sent  
it back to him.. I tried to track it down.. but.. from the  
sound of it, he took it all to Australia with him."  
        "Do you know what  
he had?"  
        Ray  
raked his memories and told Welsh everything he  
knew about it, which  
wasn't much, but might have been enough  
for Welsh to learn what  
he needed to know and find out if  
Fraser's memorabilia collection had gone up for sale.  
        "Personally, I hope  
the Fed's down under managed to  
seize it before he thought of it..  
I know Benni kept it all  
these years for nothing more than the sentimental value..  
There are really good memories attached to it.. I'd hate to  
think that bastard profited by stealing it and selling it to  
the  
highest bidder."  
        "Is Fraser capable  
of answering questions?"  
        "About  
Dante.. I don't think so.. And even if he could  
answer questions,  
I wouldn't recommend asking them. The only  
time we mentioned Dante  
around him, he cried half the  
night.. He went to pieces.. and I won't be there to help him  
pick  
up the pieces if you send someone around to interrogate  
him about  
Dante. And I didn't spent the last year or so  
helping Fraser to get his act back together to have some  
idiot come along asking the wrong questions and ruin it  
all."  
        "In other words,  
Fraser's still recovering and if he  
isn't handled right he could  
have another nervous  
breakdown."  
        "Right.. And if  
anyone sets him off.. It's not just me  
coming down on them they'll  
have to worry about. The Dragon  
lady will have their guts for garters. And if something  
happens to him, she'll be placed under more stress than she  
needs and if that happens.."  
        "I get the picture  
Vecchio.. I'll do everything I can  
to track this psycho down without  
pestering Fraser to do  
it."  
        Ray heard the door open,  
and foot steps.  
        "That's  
the doctor.. He'll skin me alive if I don't  
leave you to get your  
rest. Is there anything you want me to  
do for you - other than what  
we've discussed?"  
        "That about covers  
it.."  
  
                  
*~~~~~~~~~~*ooOO0=@=0OOoo*~~~~~~~~~~*  
  
                                  
Part Thirteen  
                                  
*ooOO0=@=0OOoo*  
  
        Fraser sat cross legged  
on a chair cushion on the floor  
in Meg's office where Meg could  
keep an eye on him as he  
worked his way through a box of paper work, sorting the  
papers into some form of order.  
        The talk with the Dean  
had gone well. But then when a  
Mountie (make that two) tells you  
that one of your teachers  
is deliberately flunking a student, and asks how a  
professional detective can flunk criminology classes you  
listen. And the Dean had and promised to look into and  
reinstate Ray's scholarship if his investigation into the  
matter proved Ray had been unfairly flunked.  
        Reaching for the phone  
Meg dialled the Vecchio  
household's number yet again. She listened  
to the phone  
ring, fingers crossed that someone would answer. She needed  
to speak to Ray about Fraser's medication. She didn't know  
which pills to give him at what time. The Vitamin's were  
easy, it was the other pills she had a problem with. Then  
there was the matter of Fraser keeping her awake half the  
night, as he screamed his way through the night, trapped in  
some nightmare or another. She'd given up trying to wake him  
from  
his night terrors, he tended to strike out when someone  
tried to  
wake him. As had been the case each time she'd  
tried to call Ray over the last 3 days, no one answered, she  
listened  
to it ring out yet again and sighed as she placed  
the handset back on the cradle. Fraser glanced up a curious  
look on his face.  
        "No luck."  
        "Did you try  
his mobile phone?"  
        "He  
left that behind."  
        "Oh."  
        The phone rang and  
Meg snatched it up and for the first  
time in three days she smiled.  
Fraser listened to the one  
side of the conversation he could hear and realised she was  
talking to the Dean. And if the smile on Meg's face was  
anything to go by, he was calling with good news.  
        "Yes.. Yes.. As  
soon as I speak to him, I'll tell him.  
Thank-you. That's wonderful  
news."  
        Fraser watched as Meg's  
smile became a frown.  
        "He  
failed those test too? Are you sure they're not  
forgeries too?"  
        Meg's frown became deeper.          
        "Oh dear..  
Yes.. I understand, but under the  
circumstances.. Couldn't he be  
given a chance to resit the  
exam too?"  
        After a few moments the  
frown vanished to be replaced  
with a look of relief and she reached  
out for a pen to take  
down some details.  
        "Yes, of course,  
I understand.. I'll talk to Ray about  
it as soon as I can.. Yes..  
I'll make sure he does. Thank-  
you."  
        Fraser watched her hang  
up.  
        "That was  
the Dean, he said he investigated and found  
evidence there was something  
very wrong going on. He pulled  
all the exam papers on file for Ray and gave them to a hand  
writing expert. The expert said, all the criminology exams  
he received low or failing marks on are forgeries. And bad  
forgeries at that. The teacher has been fired, and they're  
looking for a new criminologist to take his place."  
        "That is good news."  
        "The bad news  
is that it wasn't just the criminology  
exam he failed. He failed  
the Psych and SAC exam too. But  
the Dean spoke to the teachers. Under the circumstances,  
they're willing to let him do a make up exam. If he lodges  
an appeal *personally* he'll be given a chance to take the  
exams again, and if he passes in all three subjects his  
scholarship will be restored."  
        "That is even better  
news."  
        "Now  
all I have to do is get hold of Ray to tell him."  
          
                        *~~~~~~~~~~*=@=*~~~~~~~~~~*  
  
        Frannie looked at the  
phone in annoyance. That was the  
third time the phone had rung out  
before she'd been able to  
reach it. Knocking the handset off the cradle she picked up  
a pencil and used it to dial and fumbled the handset up to  
her shoulder.  
        "Hello.. This is  
Francesca Vecchio, my brother Raymond  
is a patient at your hospital.  
I asked to be notified when  
he regained consciousness."  
        She rolled her eyes as  
the telephonist told her in a  
bored voice, they'd ring her when  
he woke up.  
        "Yes, I know that,  
but someone just rang but I wasn't  
able to reach the phone before  
it rang out."  
        The telephonist told  
her to hold the line and put her  
on hold.  
          
                        *~~~~~~~~~~*=@=*~~~~~~~~~~*  
          
        Fraser placed the last  
paper from the box into the  
correct pile and then began sorting  
through each pile,  
sorting them into the correct chronological order. Meg  
watched him work and made a note on her pad to have him  
tested to see if he was fit to return to light office duties  
in  
the near future.  
        When the phone rang she  
picked it up absently and  
identified herself. She bolted upright,  
giving her caller  
her full attention when he identified himself as Lieutenant  
Welsh.  
        Fraser looked around  
and watched her reactions.  
        "Yes..  
Yes.. I understand.. Yes.. I appreciate your  
call.. Fraser?"  
        She looked at Fraser.  
        "He's doing  
much better.. Would you be able to pass a  
message onto Raymond for  
me? I need to know Fraser's  
medication schedule. I'm not sure if I'm giving him the  
right pills at the right time. He's been screaming his lungs  
out  
every night and I'm not getting much sleep and Ray knows  
how much  
I need a good night's rest now."  
        Fraser watched her brows  
defect.  
        "Oh,  
he told you about that did he.. I see.. He didn't  
want me to worry..  
Well, you can tell him for me, that  
accepting that assignment is a strange way of making life  
less stressful for me."  
        Welsh cut in.  
        "Oh,  
I see.. Yes.. I understand.. It can't be helped.  
Forget what I said,  
and tell him I also need to know which  
doctor he took Fraser too.. And that if he had half a brain  
he would have left me a note giving me all the information I  
needed  
to take care of Fraser properly while he was away."  
        Then  
she hung up.  
        "Ray  
isn't coming back, is he?"  
        "Not  
in the immediate future.. He picked the wrong time  
to go back to  
the precinct to see his friends there.. They  
were looking for someone to go undercover and because he's  
been out of action for the last year he was the perfect  
man for the assignment."  
        "And he took it."  
        "He didn't  
have much choice.. It was accept the  
assignment or take a discharge."  
        "Oh dear."  
        "He told them  
he'd take the discharge, but they talked  
him out of it and into  
taking the assignment."  
        "How long will he  
be undercover?"  
        The  
look she gave him was one of sadness. That one  
question was evidence  
that he still had a long way to go  
before he could be considered fit to return to duty. He  
should have known the answer without having to ask for it.  
        "What's the Motto  
of the RCMP, Benton?"  
        Fraser  
thought about it.  
        "We  
always get our man?"  
        Meg  
ripped the note about having him tested out of her  
pad, screweing  
it up to toss it into the bin.          
  
                        *~~~~~~~~~~*=@=*~~~~~~~~~~*  
          
        Ray was sitting up, holding  
as still as possible as the  
nurse removed the bandages, gauze and  
gel that had been  
applied to his face. The pain killers they kept feeding him  
left him feeling no pain but he'd been warned about moving  
or trying to touch his face. He had to keep reminding  
himself that there was no point in trying to touch his face  
because his hands were wrapped in bandages too.  
        He was aware the nurse  
was touching his face in a vague  
way. He'd also learned to take  
note of every little sound he  
heard, and he heard the little intake  
of air when the  
bandages were removed. He didn't need to be told what his  
face looked like, he could imagine it.  
        He tilted his head and  
received a light slap on an  
unburned part of his arm.  
        "Don't move. I'm  
not done yet."  
        More  
bandages and gauze came away and he became aware  
that the bandages  
over his eyes were being removed. Of soft  
dabbing over his eyes.  
        "Shield his eyes,"  
he heard the doctor order.  
        Then  
a soft touch on his arm.  
        "All  
right, Mr Vecchio.. You can open your eyes now."  
        With  
an effort Ray's eyes opened.  
        "Good,  
now, keep them open."  
        All  
Ray could see were huge blurs. His view of the  
world became one  
huge bright blur for a moment, then  
shifted, and became a huge bright blur again.  
        "Follow my pen,  
if you can."  
        Ray  
blinked and tried to focus. He was aware of  
something passing back  
and forth before his eyes but he  
couldn't focus on it.  
        "Everything's a  
big blur," he said.  
        "There  
are a number of tests I'll have to carry out  
later, but I don't  
think it's anything to worry about, just  
a temporary side effect of being flash blinded. It happens  
all the time."  
        "Yeah, right."  
        "Hold still.  
Hmmm... This is excellent. Remind me to  
find out what his sister  
used to neutralise that acid."  
        Ray  
was vaguely aware of his face being touched here  
and there and then  
of the doctor withdrawing giving the  
nurse some directions. The click of a pen, and the  
scratching of that pen across paper told him the Doctor was  
making notes at the same time.  
        "Your burns are  
healing nicely. In some cases, they've  
healed completely. You have  
a great deal to thank your  
sister for. They could have been a lot worse."  
        "How bad are they?"  
        "15% of the  
burns are 1st degree, 75% are second degree  
and the remainder are  
3rd degree burns. Mainly here, here,  
here," The doctor said and Ray felt a light touch on his  
face.  
        "Am I gonna need  
skin grafts?"  
        "Here,  
here and on your hands.. Yes. For the rest,  
laser treatment should  
reduce and eliminate most if not all  
of the scarring once the burns heal. But there will be a  
permanent side effect.. You'll never have to shave again."  
        Ray didn't laugh.  
        "It's going to be  
noticeable, isn't it? I won't be able  
to pretend it didn't happen  
will I?"  
        "No. We can reduce  
or eliminate most of the scaring on  
your face and throat, but it's  
going to be noticeable on  
your hands. But you can always cover up the scarring there  
with gloves."  
        "My chest?"  
        "Oh, well,  
that's one area you don't have to worry  
about, the burns there were  
minimal and healed up quite  
nicely."  
        "What's the date?"  
        The doctor checked  
his watch wondering at the reasoning  
behind the sudden change of  
subject and gave Ray the date.  
Ray made a few calculations.  
        "How long will it  
take? Before I can walk out of her  
looking halfway normal?"  
        "At the rate your  
burns are healing, *halfway* normal  
will be a few more weeks. With  
the grafting and laser  
treatment, 3 to six months depending on how well the grafts  
take. And there is a plus side to the whole thing."  
        "There is?"  
        "You will most  
likely come out of this looking  
younger."  
        For the first time since  
he'd opened the vicious  
surprise parcel Ray felt like laughing.  
          
                        *~~~~~~~~~~*=@=*~~~~~~~~~~*  
  
        Welsh walked into the  
lounge and looked around to see  
Ray curled up on a reclining chair,  
his face was covered  
with a bandage that wouldn't have looked out of place on  
your average bank robber. His eyes were hidden behind a pair  
of  
shades that wouldn't have looked out of place on a skier  
and his hands were mittened in bandages. He had a walkman in  
his  
lap and earbuds in his ear. A creaking floor board  
alerted Ray to the fact he wasn't alone and he looked up and  
around.  
        "Who's there?"  
        "It's me Lieutenant  
Welsh."  
        He  
stepped closer and reached out to wave a hand in  
front of Ray's  
face.  
        "I can see you know."  
        "Then why do  
you need to ask who's there?"  
        "Everything's  
a big blur of shadow's and light, and  
when someone waves a hand  
in my face I know it."  
        "Sorry."  
        "S'ok. I'm getting  
used to it. Everyone does it to me."  
        He  
picked up his walk man, fumbling with it, and held  
it up.  
        "Would you turn  
this off for me, before I lose my  
place."  
        Welsh reached out to  
turn it off.  
        "What  
are you listening to?"  
        "Just  
some boring text book about the links between  
Neurological birth  
defects and psychosis."  
        "You're still studying  
psychology??"  
        "You're  
not the only one who's surprised.. I flunked  
out. Before I came  
back. But thanks to Meg, and my mother I  
was given a second chance. When Ma heard I was gonna be  
coming home soon, she went all the way to Canada to talk to  
the Dean at the college and found out what Meg did to get me  
a second  
chance. Now they send me all the text books on  
tape, and Ma reads the papers for me and I dictate the  
answers for her to write up for me. Whenever I have to do a  
test, a friend of the Dean's from a University here comes  
over and gives me the tests."  
        "I see."  
        Ray gave a weak little  
grin.  
        "And  
my grade average is improving, can you believe  
that."  
        "Yes. You don't  
have the distraction of having to take  
care of Fraser while you  
study now."  
        "True. But that's  
going to be a thing of the past  
soon."  
        "Oh?"  
        "I talked to Meg  
over the phone the other day. They're  
coming back."  
        "They are?"  
        "Yeah.. She  
say's Fraser's backsliding and getting  
worse every day. The final  
straw was some dope freak  
breaking into our place and trashing it."  
        "What?!"  
        "Apparently Fraser  
got him expelled, hauling him up to  
the Dean's office for smoking  
it in the halls. He trashed  
the place while they were out in retaliation. But it set  
Fraser right off. He won't go back there now, and she fired  
the carer I hired to help out."  
        "Why?"  
        "The whole reason  
I started studying psychology was to  
keep Fraser out of a psychiatric  
hospital, and if that woman  
had her way that's where he'd be. Or  
at least that's what  
Meg says, but then again, Meg took an instant dislike to  
her. Right from the start.. And unless I hear it from  
Fraser, I'm gonna take it with a grain of salt."  
        "Let's get back  
to place being trashed. Are they sure,  
and I mean absolutely it  
was the addict Fraser got expelled?  
        "He  
was busted for it when he tried to pawn my laptop,  
they found the  
rest of the stuff that went missing at his  
place after they searched it."  
        "Right... That's  
good."  
        "Why  
do I have the feeling you didn't come to see how I  
was doing?"  
        "Because I didn't."  
        "Rrright."  
        "Do you think  
you could get Thatcher to speed up the  
move back to Chicago?"  
        "Yeah, right, if  
I did that she'd have my head on a  
platter. Friday is perfect. These  
come off tomorrow, *if*  
the Doctor was right, I should be able to hide the worst of  
it with a little make up a bandage and some gloves."  
        "Really?"  
        "Well close to it,"  
Ray said pulling his sleeve back to  
show Welsh that the bandages  
extended all the way to his  
shoulder.  
        "I'll need to keep  
my arms covered too."  
        "So  
you didn't need any skin grafts?"  
        "Oh,  
no.. I needed those. Across here," Ray said  
drawing a finger  
from cheek to cheek crossing his nose, "and  
here," Ray  
continued touching his chin and brow, "and from  
here to here,"  
Ray went on drawing a finger from his elbow  
to point where his palms  
met his fingers on his left arm,  
"and here," Ray indicated a patch on his shoulder, "not  
to  
mention from my wrist to my elbow on the other arm."  
        "You were shielding  
your face.."  
        "Right..  
The worst burns were on my arms, and a lot of  
that has to do with  
Francesca."  
        "Speaking of whom..  
How is she?"  
        "Speaking  
of which - You understated how bad she got  
burned helping me."  
        "I did?"  
        "Yeah, the burns  
went all the way up her arms."  
        "They  
did?"  
        "Didn't  
you ask her what happened?"  
        "Why  
don't you tell me and then I'll tell you if what  
she told me and  
what she told you are the same thing."  
        "I doubt it.. You  
see I know her story is not what  
happened. She's the one who was  
understating everything. Not  
that she'd admit it."  
        "So how do you know  
she's understating it?"  
        "After  
they let me out.. And I came home, I started  
having flash backs,  
It all came back to me in bits and  
pieces.. And what Frannie sez happened, and what really  
happened are two different things.. Like for example how she  
knew  
I was in trouble.. She sez I screamed, but I know I did  
*not* scream..  
I wanted to.. But I couldn't.. I kicked the  
door, over and over, hard as I could to make a big enough  
racket to get her attention. I remember hearing her coming..  
after  
that.. the next thing I can remember is her dragging  
me down the hall, she was behind me, she had her arms  
wrapped around me, and she was hissing'n'cursing under her  
breath, because the acid was burning her too. And she was  
muttering things about what she'd do to the person  
responsible if she ever got her hands on him."  
        "Uh-hu.. And after  
that?"  
        "She  
dragged me into the bathroom, and into the  
shower.. That I remember  
really clear. Somewhere along the  
way to the bathroom she worked out that it was acid. She  
ripped my coat and shirt off and raided the medicine cabinet  
and  
squirted and slathered me with absolutely everything she  
could think  
of that would neutralise it. Then she covered  
all the burns with baby oil and wrapped me up in wet towels,  
ran  
back out, and got a blanket and pillow to wrap me up.  
And the whole time she was talking to me.."  
        "So she knew you  
were conscious or at least semi-  
conscious."  
        "Yeah.. Even when  
she left the room it didn't stop. I  
could hear her yelling at me.  
The only time she stopped was  
when she was calling it in. Then she came back with a lot of  
ice  
and packed it into the towels. I don't think she did  
anything about her own burns till she was sure she'd done  
everything she could do for mine. If I could nail a medal on  
her  
chest for that, I would.. But I can't.. But she's gonna  
find out that I haven't forgotten she saved my life soon  
enough."  
        "Oh, what have you  
got in mind?"  
        "You'll  
find out when she does," Ray said with a faint  
smile.  
        "And when will that  
be?"  
        "What's  
the date?"  
        Welsh  
told him and Ray did a few mental calculations.  
        "It'll  
be about five to six weeks?"  
        "What's  
happening in five to six weeks."  
        "You'll  
see."  
        "You're  
not even going to give me a hint?"  
        "Nope.  
It's a surprise.. Besides.. I don't know if I  
can pull off what  
I've got in mind yet."  
        "Uh-hu."  
        "And not that I'm  
trying to change the subject or  
anything."  
        "Which means you  
are."  
        "But  
why do you want me to get Meg to get here sooner?  
When you didn't  
know she was coming back in the first place,  
and ask about the place  
being trashed, and don't tell me  
it's because of Dante."  
        "It is."  
        "I told you *not*  
to tell me that."  
        "I'm  
not saying he knows where Fraser is, though it is  
a possibility."  
        "But you know where  
Dante is.. You traced him."  
        "I  
did a lot more than that, I found out why you were  
on his hit list.  
You forget to mention that he was a  
Mountie, and took over at the consulate while Thatcher was  
on leave and that he had a relationship with Fraser. That's  
why your name's at the top of his hit list"  
        Ray looked down at his  
lap.  
        "This  
psycho is obsessed with Fraser."  
        Ray  
nodded.  
        "You don't how lucky  
you are to be alive right now. He  
crossed the border and he's been  
leaving a trail of corpses  
in his wake."  
        Ray gulped.  
        "As for how I found  
that out, those guesses you made.  
You were dead on. He did use Fraser's  
passport to get back  
into the states, he's been using Fraser's I.D and you were  
right about Fraser's bank accounts too, they were raided the  
same  
day that parcel was mailed. He also used Fraser's I.D  
to apply for 3 credit cards, which he got. He's been using  
them and leaving a trail behind. He's smart enough to keep  
all his purchases on the cards small enough that they don't  
check the cards. The only time he went over that limitation,  
it  
appears to have been deliberate.. I think he knows that  
we know."  
        "You mean he was  
trying to get caught."  
        "No..  
He was trying to lure the authorities out, which  
he did.. And they  
followed him, all the way to the biggest  
narcotics farm in the country."  
        "What?!"  
        "And he also blew  
up three drug labs, and the whole  
thing was controlled by the same  
man, who's also on his hit  
list. Six other's on it are dead. He's left a trail of  
bodies behind him."  
        "And there's a definite  
connection between it all?"  
        "Fraser.  
Every one on his list is connected to him in  
one way or another."  
        "They know who he's  
after, don't they?"  
        "They  
started drawing up a list of possible victims  
after the third murder.  
He proved them right four times."  
        "That  
makes seven."  
        "The  
crime lord behind all the drugs surrendered  
himself to the authorities  
and confessed to an absolutely  
staggering list of crimes. He'll probably spend the rest of  
his life behind bars, but he'll still be alive, something  
that can't be said for the other men on that list who are in  
their  
own way connected to him."  
        "The six people  
he killed are all connected to the  
crime lord?"  
        "Yes, but don't  
ask me how. All I know is what I've  
been able to get them to tell  
me, which isn't much."  
        "And what do you  
know, exactly?"  
        "5  
of the 6 men Dante's already killed were apparently  
involved in  
an attack on Fraser, which was linked to this  
crime lord. There were 7 possibly 8 men involved, 7 were  
definitely identified, 5 of them are now dead."  
        "And the 6th?"  
        "It seems Fraser  
was the first, and until Dante, last  
Mountie to ever find and shut  
down one of his drug labs. He  
didn't take very kindly to that and .."  
        "The 6th person  
was a woman right?"  
        "No."  
        "Oh."  
        "Why did you  
assume it was a woman?"  
        "I  
think I know who you're talking about."  
        "So  
Fraser told you about this crime lord?"  
        "What  
you're telling me sounds like the one he  
mentioned to me. He had  
all the dirt, and I do mean all the  
dirt on the guy, but he couldn't take him down. Because the  
son of bitch killed his informant and set him up.. and even  
though he got off the hook.. Fraser couldn't take him down.  
He was barred from even going back to that guys territory or  
having  
anything to do with the investigation into his  
activities."  
        "And wasn't thrilled  
about it either."  
        "Of  
course not."  
        "He's  
lucky. Among other things, this man admitted to  
killing six investigators,  
and arranging the deaths of 4  
mounties, had another 3 sent to prison, where they were  
killed soon after, and there were apparently five others who  
ended  
up dead just because they happened to stumble upon the  
location  
of his narcotics farm."  
        "He confessed to  
all that?"  
        Welsh  
nodded.  
        "Soooo..  
How did these guys Dante killed die?"  
        "In  
all but one case, they died slowly and painfully."  
        "Uh-hu..and  
in the other?"  
        "He  
apparently beat the man to death."  
        "That  
I can believe.. He came close to killing Fraser  
that way."          
        "When he's  
not hunting down Killers & Rapists which is  
what all the men he's  
killed so far have been, he's busy  
torching places. Apart from the drug lab's, he's also  
torched 16 buildings. Including two RCMP outposts, where he  
served with Fraser in the past. And in every instance, there  
is  
a link to Fraser some how."  
        "That's why you  
wanted to know if they were sure it was  
that dope freak who trashed  
our place there."  
        Welsh nodded.  
        "There  
are five more names on that list.. People  
they're almost certain  
he'll go after next.. Your name is  
there.."  
        "As far as Dante's  
concerned, I'm history, he probably  
thinks that his little surprise  
package took care of me."  
        "Thatcher's  
name is on the list too."  
        "What?!"  
        "He knows she  
was involved in your attempt to get  
Fraser out of his clutches before  
it was too late. He wants  
you dead because A.) He possibly views you as competition  
for Fraser's affections and B.) You actively tried to  
separate them."  
        "Do you know for  
a fact that he knows Meg was helping  
me?"  
        "It went beyond  
that.. Once they started trying to work  
out who he'd go after, there  
were two things that made  
Thatcher a definite target. She stood up to him and made no  
secret of the fact that she'd nail his hide to the wall if  
she could find something to do it with. By all accounts, she  
*ordered*  
Constable Turnbull to go out and slash his car's  
tires to keep him from being able to leave in a hurry when  
she was trying to do that."  
        "I don't believe  
it."  
        "Believe  
it. Once they found out she helped you, they  
started back tracking  
and interrogated the staff at the  
consulate to find out what happened when she crossed paths  
with Dante."  
        "And he knows about  
that?"  
        "He's  
not stupid. I'm sure he knows who was behind what  
happened to his  
car. And he knows for a fact that Meg was  
taking action to get Fraser away from him. Some idiot called  
the  
Sydney consulate and told him she had made a formal  
complaint about him which they intended to investigate. The  
timing suggests, that the phone call is what prompted his  
near lethal assault on Fraser."  
        "Tell me that moron  
got more than a slap on his wrist  
for making that call."  
        "I'll have to look  
into it."  
        "Do  
you know where Dante was traced to last?"  
        Welsh  
pulled out his note pad checking it and gave Ray  
the name of the  
town.  
        "Have you got your  
phone on you?"  
        Welsh  
pulled it out and offered it to Ray. Ray waved a  
mittened hand at  
him, then gave him a number to dial. Welsh  
helped him rest the phone on his shoulder and then listened,  
a brow  
raising as he did.  
        "It's me, I'm just  
calling to see how you are... Oh,  
aren't we in a snit. I wish I  
was there to see it... Did I  
ever mention you're simply ravishing when you're stomping  
around in a snit."  
        Welsh snickered.  
        "No.. I mean it..  
But then again, you look ravishing  
most of the time... What's that..  
Caro, don't you know  
Italian men like their women big."  
        Welsh covered his mouth  
to hide his smile and backed  
up.  
        "What's more I can't  
wait to see you and prove it.  
Remember those plans I had before  
I flew out... Yesss, those  
plans," Ray purred making Welsh  
wonder what plans he was  
talking about.  
        "I can't wait to  
carry them out," Ray said then smiled.  
        "Is  
there a smile on your face? I just bet there's a  
really big smile  
on your face.. There is.. Ohh.. No.. I'm  
not doing that.. Why??? Er.. I'm a cel phone, that's why..  
Haven't you heard, idiots with scanners can listen to your  
most intimate conversations and record them.... No. I'd love  
to,  
but I can't come to you. You have to come to me. Do you  
think you can get here sooner... You can't... Are you sure?  
Uh-hu. Oh well. If you say so... But I'm warning you, Ma's  
throwing women at me."  
        Even across the room  
Welsh could hear Thatcher's  
screech at that.  
        "Very attractive  
women.. Just last night she threw this  
voluptuous vixen who was  
over me like a rash. We're talking  
Barracuda here... I told her, I was spoken for as soon as I  
said, I wasn't married yet. She said.. Well.. never mind  
what she said.. I wouldn't want to make your blood pressure  
go through the roof... Well of course I told her to take a  
hike.. But Ma isn't going to stop hurling her at me until  
you show up and stake your claim.. One look at you my little  
beached  
whale and she'll stop throwing these women at me and  
start planning  
our wedding."  
        Welsh wondered what Thatcher  
had to say about that,  
whatever it was, it was obviously amusing  
because Ray  
laughed.  
        "You're probably  
right about that.. But.. It's not  
going to happen. By the way..  
I forget to ask.. Do you know  
what sex the baby is yet?"  
        Ray fell silent for a  
short time.  
        "Say  
that again.."  
        Ray  
broke into a grin.  
        "That's  
incredible news.. Why didn't you tell me that  
the other night,"  
Ray asked, then laughed at her answer.  
        "That'll  
teach me to ask the right questions.. here's  
another question for  
you.. Can I pick a name for the girl..  
I can.. Great.. I've already picked it.. Francesca."  
        "Aha," Welsh  
crowed, working out Ray's little plan to  
show his sister how grateful  
he was.  
        "Yes.. I know it's  
my sister's name.. And if you want  
to know why I want to call the  
girl after her, well, you're  
just going to have to ask me to my face, Bye Caro."  
        He flipped the phone  
closed.  
        "That's  
how you're going show Francesca you're  
grateful."  
        Ray nodded with a little  
smile.  
        "I thought  
her baby was Fraser's."  
        "It...  
They are.."  
        "Now  
I'm confused."  
        "Meg  
and I were an item for a while... But that ended  
after we got to  
Canada. But she thinks I'm the father. I  
gave up trying to convince her otherwise.. I'm not going to  
argue with her about it. She's *thrilled* to bits that I'm  
finally admitting they're mine."  
        "They?"  
        "She's having twins.  
A pigeon pair, they worked it out  
during her ultrasound's."  
        "Uh-hu. If you're  
not careful, that wedding joke may  
become a reality."  
        "Oh, Meg has no  
interest in getting married. She likes  
things the way there are..  
or were. And regardless of what I  
said to Meg, the last person my  
mother would suspect of  
fathering her baby is me. She knows as well as I do that I  
can't have children which is why she doesn't waste her time  
throwing women at me."  
        "I remember all  
the effort you went to trying to start  
a family with your wife..  
That beeper of yours always seemed  
to go off at the worst time."  
        "Yeah.. And it almost  
got me killed."  
        "I  
remember that too. And the time it went off when you  
were in the  
middle of interrogating some one."  
        Ray chuckled at the memory.  
        "And the way  
you made him start talking.."  
        "How  
could I forget - it took weeks to live that down."  
        "Did  
it ever go off at anything but a bad time?"  
        "Just  
once. I got so sick of it going off at the worst  
times, that I worked  
out when it was most likely to go off  
next, and made sure nothing would go wrong.. I was spot on.  
Just as I was about to walk in the front door it went off.  
You should have heard the screech Angie let out when I  
walked in ten seconds later."                  
        Welsh laughed at  
that.  
  
                *~~~~~~~~~~*ooOO0=@=0OOoo*~~~~~~~~~~*  
  
                                Part  
Fourteen  
  
                        *~~~~~~~~~~*=@=*~~~~~~~~~~*  
          
        Ray blinked away as Doctor  
Paul Conti pulled back after  
helping him to apply the special contacts  
which would  
hopefully correct his vision.  
        "Now these aren't  
*corrective* lenses, they're just  
light filters, if your vision  
is blurred, tell me."  
        Ray nodded and his hands  
kept moving up and down as he  
fought the urge to rub at his eyes.  
The Doctor picked up his  
goggles and held them over his face.  
        "They don't work.  
Damn.. I was sure.."  
        "No..  
I mean.. They're just.. irritating."          
        The doctor lowered  
the goggles.  
        "Alright.  
It takes a little while to grow accustomed to  
lenses the first time.  
Now do you think you can stop  
blinking for a few moments and let me take a closer look at  
your eyes."  
        Ray heard him flip his  
head set piece down and fought  
the urge to blink and his eyes started  
focussing as the  
Doctor leaned closer to examine his eyes.  
        "No pain?"  
        "I told you,  
they're just a little irritating, but I  
s'pose I could get used  
to that."  
        The Doctor smiled to  
himself, the pain he meant was the  
pain Ray had complained about  
suffering whenever he was  
exposed to any light brighter than a candle flame, the fact  
Ray didn't register the pen light torch's light was a good  
sign the contacts were filtering out the light the way they  
were meant too. Putting his instrument in the tray, the  
doctor reached for the eye drops.  
        "Head back and no  
blinking."  
        Ray  
obeyed.  
        "O.K, now.. this  
should take care of that irritation."  
        Ray  
felt the doctor run something along the bottom lid  
of his eyes.  
        "There we go.. You  
can blink away as much as you like  
now."  
        Ray did and the irritation  
stopped after a few more  
blinks.  
        "That's better."  
        "Hmm.. Look  
around, can you focus now?"  
        Ray  
looked around the room and slowly a smile touched  
his face.  
        "I can *see*. Charlene  
is sitting on a stool at the  
back having a cup of coffee. Frannie  
was right, this place  
does sparkle.." Ray said.  
        The doctor gave a soft  
laugh as he babbled away  
describing everything he could see in the  
room. Then Ray  
looked back around and up at the Doctor and gave a little  
laugh as he realised why his sister made sure she was never  
late for any of her appointments. The Doctor was tall, well  
built without being a muscle man and while with the cap and  
surgical mask made it difficult to see his face, he had what  
he  
imagined women called eyes to drown in.  
        The Doctor held up a  
hand, one finger up.  
        "Follow  
my finger please."  
        Ray's  
eyes tracked it back and forth and up and down.  
        "What  
colour is my gown?"  
        "Claret."  
        "O.K. what  
about this?" The Doctor asked reaching out  
to pick up an instrument.  
        "Orange."  
        "And this?"  
        "Emerald Green."  
        "Close enough.."  
        "What do you  
mean?"  
        "The  
filter affects your ability to see colours. But  
you can differentiate  
between one colour and the other."          
        "You mean I'm  
colour blind."  
        "No.  
This is green..But it's fluro green.. The other  
one is Fluro yellow,  
and my gown is red."  
        "Bright Red?"  
        "Yes."  
        "Oh dear."  
        "Can't be helped..  
It took them 2 months to come up  
with a pair of filtered lenses  
which would block out the  
light but still allow you to see."  
        "You mean they don't  
make lenses like these?"  
        "They  
make all kinds. Including light filtering lenses.  
Yours are experimental..  
They've never had a request like  
mine. And considered it quite a challenge. Here, can you  
read what this says?" The Doctor said changing the subject  
holding up an instrument still in sterile packaging.  
        Ray focussed on it, the  
small lettering was just a blur  
but he read out the brand name and  
other details which he  
could make out. The Doctor pointed to the blurred details.  
Ray shook his head.  
        "I can't read that  
bit. It's just a blur."  
        "I'll  
set up an appointment with the optometrist for  
you."  
        The Doctor set the instrument  
aside and reached for a  
mirror holding it up.  
        "But I think you  
can see well enough to see what you  
look like now."  
        Ray looked in the mirror  
then frowned.  
        "A  
little ice should take care of the residual swelling  
and the bruising  
will fade soon. Madeleine will give you a  
make over before you leave and show you how to hide it."  
        Ray  
raised a still mittened hand and reached out to  
tilt the mirror.  
        "Is there something  
wrong?"  
        "Wrong?!  
I've got more hair on my head than I used to  
have!" Ray almost  
wailed, then he touched his nose, "And my  
nose is different..  
You gave me a nose job, and I look at  
least.. Ten years younger, this is terrible."  
        "It is? Most of  
my patients would be *thrilled* to look  
ten years younger."  
        "Well I'm not!"  
Ray snapped, thinking of how this would  
make it impossible to pretend  
nothing had happened with Meg.  
        "Charlene,  
get the *before* snaps, please."  
        His  
sister set her coffee aside, placing the lid on the  
cup before she  
walked away to find the file in question. He  
walked away with the instrument tray, the whole tray went  
down the incinerator chute, then he peeled off his gloves  
and tossed them in the incinerator and moved to the sink to  
scrub up again, before pulling on fresh gloves and heading  
back to the patient chair and pulling out a new tray from  
the stand to place up top.  
        "While we wait,  
let's have a look at that arm."  
        "Which  
one?"  
        "The  
one with the itch your sister told me you've been  
complaining itches  
all the time about at home and never  
mentioned to me."  
        "Ah so you've been  
using my sister to spy on me."  
        "Male  
patients, are the worst kind, you *never* tell me  
if you feel any  
unusual aches, pains, tingles or itches. For  
all you know your arm  
could be ready to drop off from  
gangrene, all because enduring pain without complaint is the  
macho  
thing to do."  
        Ray held his arm up and  
the doctor reached for the  
scissors and began cutting through the  
special bandages that  
covered Ray's arm.  
        "That's why I decided  
to go with you."  
        "What  
do you mean?"  
        "I  
mean out of all the Doctors I could have gone with  
to carry out  
the follow up treatment, I chose you because  
Frannie said this place was so clean it sparkles. You're so  
fanatical about cleanliness that there's no way I could get  
an infection or anything like that."  
  
                        *~~~~~~~~~~*=@=*~~~~~~~~~~*  
          
        Mrs Vecchio stood on  
the porch watching as Fraser  
helped Meg to alight from the cab which  
was parked in the  
drive. Frannie skidded to a stop beside her.  
        "Was that your brother?  
He was supposed to be back over  
an hour ago," Mrs Vecchio hissed  
in an aside.  
        "That was the Doctor.  
He said something went wrong."          
        Mrs Vecchio's head  
swung around and she pinned Frannie  
with her gaze.  
        "*What* went wrong?"  
        "I don't know,"  
Franni said, smiling and wiggling her  
fingers at Fraser, "He  
just said, something went wrong and  
he took Ray to the hospital,  
for tests. He's going to be  
there all night."  
        "I will kill him."  
        "Who, Ray or  
the Doctor?"  
        "The  
Doctor."  
        "Do  
you think you can wait till he finishes treating my  
burns.. One  
last session and I'll be scar free."  
        "Fine, I will kill  
him later."  
        Francesca's  
eyes widened when Fraser moved to the side,  
and she got her first  
good look at Meg in over a year.  
        "Migod... She's  
huge."  
        "She's  
having twins. They're due within a month"  
        "That  
explains it."  
        "Remember  
not a word about what happened to your  
brother.. As far as they're  
concerned he's been undercover  
these last few months."  
        "I know, I know..  
She's soooo delicate, she has to be  
handled with kid gloves, etcetera,  
etcetera... Maybe it's a  
good thing he's not here.. He is sooo clucky."  
        "Let me do all the  
talking.  
        Frannie  
rolled her eyes, and her mother gave Fraser a  
big smile as he helped  
Meg up the stairs.  
        "Welcome back, Benton,  
you're looking much better."  
        "Thank-you..  
Have you.."  
        "Met  
Meg.. Yes. Come inside, get off your feet," Mrs  
Vecchio said  
as she moved to take Meg's other arm.  
        Fraser looked at Francesca  
noticing the gloves on her  
hands and the bandages that were covering  
her arms.  
        "What happened to..."  
        "My arms. Let's  
just say young children and matches  
don't mix."  
        "Oh Dear."          
        Mrs Vecchio sent  
a little prayer of thanks upwards  
Frannie's "story" was  
both simple and believable and hoped  
she didn't decide to embellish  
it, but knowing her youngest,  
she was about to do that.  
        "Francesca take  
care of their bags," Mr's Vecchio cut  
in just as Franni opened  
her mouth to add a little detail to  
it.  
        Francesca rolled her  
eyes and headed for the cab while  
her mother took care of their  
guests, almost dragging Fraser  
in as he instinctively tried to assist  
Frannie.  
        "Where's Ray?"  
Meg asked.  
        "Ray  
is out. He had some business to attend to, he  
thought he would be  
home before you arrived. But it seems  
you beat him home," Mrs Vecchio said as she lead them to the  
lounge and made Meg sit.  
        Fraser looked around  
and rustled up a foot stool for  
her to put her feet up, while Mrs  
Vecchio slipped a few  
cushions behind Meg's back.  
        "How is that?"  
        Meg settled back,  
wiggling a little, then gave a weak  
smile and a nod.  
        "Much better.. After  
that trip, my back is killing me."  
        "I'll  
just go help Francesca with the bags," Fraser  
announced preforming  
a perfect about face and marching off.          
        Mrs Vecchio sent  
a prayer upwards that her stubborn  
offspring would refrain on embellishing  
her story while he  
was helping her.  
        "Would you like  
something to drink?"  
        "Coffee  
and make it fast, before he gets back."  
        With  
a little chuckle Mrs Vecchio bustled off.  
        "He's  
one of those men."  
        "Cluckity  
Cluckity cluck cluck cluck."  
          
                        *~~~~~~~~~~*=@=*~~~~~~~~~~*  
  
        Fraser helped Meg down  
the staircase, where Mrs Vecchio  
met them, wiping her hands on a  
tea towel.  
        "Did Ray come back  
last night?"  
        "Yes,"  
Mrs Vecchio lied, "You were sleeping when he  
arrived and he  
chose to sleep on the couch rather than wake  
you. You missed him by half an hour."  
        "Where did he go?"          
        "I have no  
idea. He was out the door before I could ask  
him, though he did  
say something about house hunting. Were  
you planning..?"  
        "Meg nodded."  
        "Yes. It's  
not that we don't appreciate your  
hospitality. It's the stairs."  
        "I understand completely."  
        The front door opened  
and Frannie bounded in, Ray's  
keys in hand, a big shoulder bag hanging  
at her hip with a  
map sticking out of it.  
        "Good, You're up.  
Are you ready to go?"  
        "Go  
where?"  
        She  
pulled out the map and a note pad.  
        "House  
hunting."  
        Meg  
and Fraser shared looks.  
        "There's  
a great cafe near the first place on Ray's  
list. We can get breakfast  
there. The car's open Benton, why  
don't you help Meg into the car.  
And don't say it Ma, You  
know exactly what Ray thinks about Meg staying here, in her  
condition," Frannie said rapid fire.  
        Her mother threw her  
hands up and walked away.  
        "Ray  
isn't joining us?"  
        "He's  
already seen all these places, and has his  
favourite, which is last  
on the list," Frannie lied, she'd  
been out canvassing every  
real estate agent in town to find  
decent houses for rent and knew exactly what the last house  
on the list looked like, it had been the one the family  
rented to be near Ray at the hospital.  
        "He asked me to  
take you around," She said, that much  
was the truth.  
        "Why isn't he joining  
us?"  
        "He  
didn't tell you?"  
        "We  
missed him."  
        "Oh..  
He had to go to court.. He could there all day."  
        "Ah,"  
Meg and Fraser both chorused.  
        Then  
Fraser began leading Meg to the door. Frannie  
moved after her mother  
and cornered her in the kitchen.  
        "Did you see him?"  
Mrs Vecchio said in a low tone.  
        Frannie  
nodded.  
        "How  
is he?"  
        "Do  
you remember how he kept complaining he had an itch  
was driving  
him up the wall and rubbing at his arm?"  
        Her mother nodded.  
        "It was itching  
for a reason, he had an infection... He  
could loose his arm."  
        Mrs Vecchio closed her  
eyes at that.  
        "He  
said, Doctor Conti exploded when he saw his arm and  
called him every  
name for idiot under the sun for not  
telling him about that itch before now. He shut his surgery  
down to take Ray to the Hospital and he's doing everything  
he can to beat the infection without going that far."  
        "How is Ray taking  
it?"  
        "He's  
pretty out of it.. They've got him on pain  
killers and antibiotics,  
he could barely stay awake to talk  
to me and tell me what to do."  
        "We can't afford  
this now.. There's no money left."  
        "You  
don't have to worry about it, Doctor Conti is  
paying for everything  
out of his own pocket."  
        "He is???"          
        "They preformed  
tests.. They're waiting on the  
results.. The tests should tell them  
what caused the  
infection and once they know that they'll be able to work  
out how his arm became infected.. The Doctor said, that no  
matter what the results were - he would be covering  
everything out of his own pocket. If the test's prove he got  
the  
infection at the Doctor's surgery.. Ray will be  
compensated.. How much he gets depends on what the end  
result is."  
        "We don't have to  
sue him?"  
        "No."  
        "Why?"  
        "That's what  
I said, he told me to ask him that  
question when the whole matter  
is settled."  
  
                *~~~~~~~~~~*=@=*~~~~~~~~~~*  
  
        Ray lay on his hospital  
bed, which had been sterilised  
to within an inch of its existence  
by his Doctor's staff.  
His infected arm was extended out from the bed resting on  
sterile sheet, on a sterile stainless steel mobile table,  
under a sterile tent that hid it from view. He could feel  
hundreds of something's crawling all over his arm and kept  
shuddering and wished he hadn't refused the Doctor's offer  
to put him under again.  
        He'd wanted to be more  
aware when Frannie returned,  
now, even knowing that the gross treatment  
his arm was  
undergoing was his last chance to keep it, but revolted none  
the  
less he wished Doctor Conti would come back and make the  
offer again.  
All he wanted to do was pull his arm away and  
brush the creatures consuming the bad tissue away, among  
other things.  
        He heard the door open  
and listened to the foot steps.  
He recognised them as Doctor Conti's.  
He listened to the  
Doctor move to the side of his bed and heard the rustle of  
cloth as the Doctor checked his arm.  
        "Oh. Yes.. This  
is good.. This is very good."  
        "Is  
it?"  
        "I  
know what your arm looked like, but our little  
friends here are  
showing me just how far the infection had  
infiltrated your tissue. And it looks as if it didn't go as  
deep as I feared. In fact it looks to me like it's  
concentrated in and around the grafts."  
        "My other arm?"  
        "Looks clean  
so far."  
        "You  
missed Frannie again."  
        "I  
did.. And I wanted to talk to her about .."  
        Ray  
snorted.  
        "You  
just want to talk to her, period."  
        He  
heard rustling, squeaks and other sounds of nervous  
movment.  
        "You've got the  
hots for my sister, haven't you?"  
        He  
heard more nervous movement.  
        "She's  
still a patient, I don't date patients."  
        "But  
when you finish what you started and she's no  
longer your patient,  
you'd like to see her, socially,  
wouldn't you..?"  
        "Is this when you  
give me the if you touch my sister,  
I'll flatten you speech?"  
        "No.. if you want  
to date my sister, that's fine with  
me."          
        "It is???"  
        "But if you  
mess with her, I'll kill you."  
        Paul  
chuckled at Ray's threat.          
        "I'm Catholic,  
single, rich and a well respected member  
of society. Who's on the  
prowl - for a wife, not a one night  
stand."  
        "Oh.. So you think  
my sister might be wife material?"  
        "Can  
she cook?"  
        "Uh-hu."  
        "What's she  
like with kids?"  
        "Great."  
        "Any objections  
to your sister being *courted*."  
        "Absolutely  
none at all."  
        "Good,  
I hate sneaking around."  
        Ray  
heard plastic tearing then felt something attached  
to his forehead.  
        "Let's go through  
the list again shall we. Any aches or  
pains in new places?"  
        "No."  
        "Any itch?"  
        "Yeah, my nose."  
        Another plastic  
tearing noise followed, he felt latex  
covered fingers touch his  
face and his nose and checks  
started to feel just a fraction warmer.  
        "Hmmm.."  
        "I *hate* hmmm's.  
I think Doctor's invented the Hmmm,  
just to torture their patients  
a little."  
        The Doctor chuckled.  
        "Sorry.. I'm  
going to move something over your nose in  
a minute.. Tell me when  
I touch the spot that itches."  
        Ray gave a little nod  
and listened to him open  
something else. He felt cool metal touch  
his nose and gently  
slide over it.  
        "Right there."  
        The faint warmth  
returned for a short time then he  
heard a bottle being opened and  
felt a dab of chill liquid  
on the spot. The itch continued for a few seconds and  
vanished.  
        "There.. That should  
take care of it. Any other  
itches?"  
        "There's a really  
maddening one that keeps coming and  
going on the sole of my foot,"  
Ray said, lifting the foot in  
question.  
        He soon felt the blanket  
being turned up, and then the  
touch of that cool liquid being smeared  
over the sole of his  
foot before the blanket was drawn down and  
he heard the  
doctor moving about.  
        "Anywhere else?"  
        "No, thank  
god.. That's the only *good* thing about  
this whole disaster.. The  
itch was driving me insane. Now  
it's gone.. I'd be estatic if you could just make those  
creepy crawlies stay off the rest of my arm."  
        "You can feel them?!"  
        "Yeah... And  
it feels gross."  
        "I  
know you're sick of hearing me say this but.."  
        "That's  
a good sign."  
        "Yes,  
but there's no reason you have to put up with  
that, I'll give you  
a local, that will do the trick."  
        "Could you do it,  
*now*.. In some ways, that's *worse*  
than the itch."  
        "What did I tell  
you?" The annoyed doctor asked.  
        "To  
tell you if I felt any pain, but it's not exactly..  
Pain, it's just..  
It's hard to describe.. the only word I  
can think of is.. revolting."  
        Ray heard rattling and  
plastic being torn, then  
movement. A short time later he felt soft  
swabbing and a  
prick as needle was put to use. That was followed by the  
sound of the needle being tossed and more plastic being  
torn. The whole procedure was repeated three more times.  
        "There.. Now this  
one is really going to hurt, try not  
to go through the roof, hmm.  
And don't even think of bitting  
your lip, scream all you like..  
but don't wreck my work."  
        Ray  
gave a little chuckle at that then let out a scream  
as the needle  
plunged home.  
        "Migod, you weren't  
joking about that hurting," He  
panted. "But I s'pose you're  
gonna say that's another one of  
those good signs right."  
        He heard rattling and  
felt the touch of fingers on his  
arm.  
        "That is a good  
sign isn't.." Ray's inquiry became a  
loud scream and the Doctor's  
hand flew to his shoulder to  
stop him moving.  
        "Oh-god.. What did  
you do?"  
        "Sorry."  
        Ray screamed even  
louder and clawed at the bed with his  
other hand as his arm was  
manipulated again.  
        "OHGOD, STOP!"  
        Ray arched off the  
bed as the next thing the Doctor did  
produced the most agonising  
pain yet. He thought he was  
going to pass out or throw up, maybe both. Then it eased off  
and  
his whole arm was just a mass of throbbing pain and he  
heard the rattling and plastic ripping.  
        "God.. Give me the  
pain killer already."  
        He  
felt the prick of a needle again, and the pain  
slowly faded but  
along with the reduction of pain, came the  
sensations that told him it wasn't the pain killer he was  
given.  
        "I said.. The pain  
killer..not the sedative," he  
slurred as he fought the sedative's  
effects.  
        He felt the touch of  
a hand, stroking his hair.  
        "Stop  
fighting it, when you wake up, it'll be all  
over."  
        "Don't.. take my  
arm off.. Please.. I don wanna loose  
my arm.."  
          
                        *~~~~~~~~~~*=@=*~~~~~~~~~~*  
          
        "I love this house,  
what do you think, Benton?"  
        "It  
is certainly the best one we've seen so far."  
        "We  
can turn that bedroom at the end of the hall into  
an office, and  
that one in the middle would make a perfect  
nursery."  
        Frannie listened to Meg  
babble on about the house and  
what they could do with it with a  
touch of annoyance. The  
house *was* the best one they'd seen, it was better than the  
one  
her family had rented in more ways than one. It was only  
a few years  
old, it was in a nice street, all the rooms were  
large and it had  
a chef's kitchen, a sensualists bathroom,  
all marble and sparkling fixtures, a spa and pool in the  
back.  
        "We would have to  
have the pool fenced off and  
covered."  
        "What?"  
        "Well once the children  
start walking it would be a  
death trap. Toddlers and inground pools  
are a lethal  
combinations, and that Spa would have to go, I read this  
article that said.."  
        Frannie smiled to herself  
as Fraser began to list all  
the things that were in his opinion,  
band points about the  
house, including it's perfectly landscaped gardens, French  
doors, that beautiful bathroom. She felt better already. If  
the way Fraser was shredding the house's best features was  
anything to go by, he'd *loooove* the next and last place.  
          
                        *~~~~~~~~~~*=@=*~~~~~~~~~~*  
  
        Meg sat on the porch  
stairs watching Ray's car, and  
scowling at the traffic that ran  
past the house in a never  
ending stream. Fraser and Francesca finally joined her on  
the porch, Frannie locking up as Fraser babbled.  
        "It is absolutely  
perfect. That room at the back would  
make an excellent nursery,  
the room adjoining was obviously  
an office once, I can see why Ray loved this place."  
        "I can't."  
        "Security,"  
Fraser and Frannie said in unison.  
        "Can  
we leave now? The traffic is giving me a head  
ache," Meg grouched  
        Fraser hurried to her  
side and helped her to her feet.  
Frannie moved to help him.  
        "You don't need  
to worry about the noise, the house is  
sound proofed, you wouldn't  
even notice the noise if all the  
doors and windows were closed,  
and the house is air  
conditioned and well vented."  
        "The walls make  
me nauseous, that wallpaper pattern is  
truly horrendous, that carpet  
looks older than Raymond's  
car. And the whole colour scheme is disgusting."  
        "I'm sure that if  
you take out a long term lease that  
they'll let you repaint and  
paper the house to your taste."  
        "I  
am not going to waste my money renovating someone  
else's home."  
        "It would not be  
renovating," Fraser pointed out.  
        "The  
walls in every room, and the carpet have to be  
replaced."  
        "That may be true,  
but beyond that everything else is  
perfect. The house is solid,  
there is a large garage and  
workshop out the back, the kitchen is ..."  
        Frannie smiled to her  
self, her prediction was spot on,  
Fraser was sold on the place.  
Now all she had to do was wait  
for him to talk Meg around and join  
in whenever Meg brought  
up something that Fraser couldn't come up with an answer to.  
        "Did  
I forget to mention that the estate agent said  
that if you took  
out a long term lease the owner would be  
willing to recarpet the house?"          
        "He would?"  
        "Yes, the estate  
agent said, that the owner had the  
house completely sound proofed  
the last time he had a long  
term tenant. And the house was completely rewired after the  
last tenants moved out. The plumbing was all replaced too.  
Now that all the major work is out of the way, he can get to  
work  
on the cosmetic overhaul. You could probably make a  
deal with him.. Do the work to your taste, in exchange for  
the equivalent in rent free time."  
        "That sounds like  
a fine arrangement."  
        "I'll  
tell Ray to talk to him about it."  
        "Hmmph,"  
was all Meg had to say about it.  
          
                        *~~~~~~~~~~*=@=*~~~~~~~~~~*  
  
        "Ray.. It's me Frannie.  
Are you awake? I can't tell  
with those bandages covering your eyes."  
        Ray's head moved as he  
responded to his sister's voice.  
        "Good,  
you are awake, the Doctor said you might be out  
of it, you were  
last night when I came back."  
        "My arm.."  
Ray said his voice slurred.  
        "Your  
arm is fine."  
        "Not  
that one."  
        "Don't  
worry the Doctor said it was all over now."  
        "Took  
my arm off."  
        "No."  
        "Still there?"  
        "Yes."  
        "Thank god..  
Thought he was gonna take it off."  
        "He  
said, if it was his choice, he'd have amputated,  
but you made it  
pretty clear that it was to be the definite  
last resort."  
        "Wha elze he zay?"  
        "Let's see..  
The creepy crawlies did the trick, your  
arm is free from infection  
now, they got the tests back, it  
was a bacterial infection, they're trying to work out how  
you contracted that. There is no way you got it in his  
surgery. Which means he's in the clear on that one."  
        "Zat's nize."  
        "You're doped  
up again, aren't you?"  
        "Yezzz.."  
        "What else..  
Er.. Don't even think of trying to move  
your arm.. Not that you  
could, it's splinted from the  
shoulder down to immobilise it. He said he hopes you're  
willing to pay the price for keeping it."  
        "What price?"  
        "There was  
a lot of nerve and tissue damage. Once the  
creepy crawlies did their  
work you went into surgery, and he  
went to work on your arm. You  
won't have any sensation at  
all in the affected area's, good or bad. You're gonna need a  
lot  
more work on the arm."  
        "Go home."  
        "Not yet. You've  
got to go through another round of  
skin grafts and he isn't going  
to do it right now. And there  
all these tests he still has to run,  
you're not getting out  
of here till he's preformed them all and got the results  
back."  
        "Wanna go home."  
        He felt her hand  
on his hair.  
        "Did  
I mention that you have more hair? He must have  
given you a hair  
transplant and it's been hidden under those  
bandages all this time..  
Up the top, it's as long as you  
used to wear your hair before you got that buzz cut. Long  
enough to run your fingers through it. The back and sides  
are longer. I bet Margaret will like that."  
        "Meg.. O.K?"  
        "She's a grump."  
        "How does she  
look?"  
        "Like  
a beached whale."  
        "Be  
nize."  
        "Apart  
from that, she's almost glowing with health, but  
  
then she wouldn't dare be anything but, Fraser wouldn't let  
her. You should see him, he's turned into a real mother hen.  
She  
can't do anything without him hovering around her. He  
controls everything she eats and drinks. He even makes her  
exercise."  
        "He does.. How?"  
        "Little dumbbells  
and ankle weights that he straps on.  
She lies on the bed and does  
all the exercises and I dropped  
them off at a gymnasium, when I  
left she was hanging upside  
down in a pair of gravity boots and he was giving her back a  
massage  
and she was saying, "I love gravity boots, a little  
lower Ben..  
purrrr."  
        Ray chuckled at that.  
        "She says he  
gives the best massages, that's the only  
reason she hasn't strangled  
him yet. And I don't blame her..  
He is worse than the Doctor."  
        "What do you mean?"  
        "He's turned  
into a clean freak.. He spent half the  
night cleaning the house,  
the kitchen has never been  
cleaner, neither has the lounge. The bathroom is so clean  
everything gleams. He threw out the shower curtain and told  
me to get a new one, and he went through your wardrobes and  
drawers and organised everything to within an inch of its  
life.. He did the same thing in the kitchen. He won't let Ma  
wash  
up, he does that and uses boiling water."  
        "Hmmm.. Meg mentioned  
that he has become obsessed with  
cleanliness and order."  
        "Obsessed is definitely  
the word for it."  
        "How  
did the house hunting go? Did you find anything  
decent?"  
        "Oh, yes, there  
were four houses that were quite  
decent, the house she liked was  
a real show home, and I mean  
that literally. And the rental, well,  
let me tell you,  
you're lucky Fraser said I won't move into that death trap."  
        "Oh."  
        "His favourite is  
the one I told you about. The one we  
stayed in after your accident."  
        "Ah."  
        "She of course loathes  
the place."  
        "Of  
course."  
        "I  
have to talk to the estate agent about getting the  
walls redone.  
She loathes the paper, and says the colour  
scheme is disgusting."  
        "Leave it alone."  
        "What?"  
        "Leave it be."  
        "I thought  
you said I should try to talk her into  
agreeing to that house, because  
it's an urban fortress."  
        "Not  
gonna rent.. Gonna buy it."  
        "Ray  
you can't afford to.."  
        "Can't  
afford to put petrol in the car, let alone buy a  
new house.."  
        "What?!"  
        "No money left..  
Paying for.. all the treatment.. took  
everything I had saved up.."  
        "I'll pay you back."  
        "Don wan your  
money.. Don need your money.. Bank  
manager.. said.. I couldn't get  
a loan.. No money coming  
in.. Gotta sell the house.. Talked to the real estate  
agent.. He took a tour of the house while you were both  
out.. He said we could get a real good price for the place..  
I'm  
hoping..there'll be enough left over to pay off all the  
bills and spruce that place up.."  
        "You can't sell  
the house!"  
        "My  
house, I can do what I want with it."          
        "But.."  
        "Don worry..  
You said that place has plenty of room..  
Muz have if the whole family  
moved in.. You and Ma..are  
going to stay with us.. Where you'll all be nice and safe.."  
        "I don't care I  
am not going to let you sell the  
house."  
        "Can' stop me.."  
        "Watch me."  
        "Like you could  
pay the bills.."  
        "If  
you could get a loan to cover things until you can  
get back to work  
would you reconsider."  
        "Never going back  
to work.."  
        "What?!"  
                          
                *~~~~~~~~~~*ooOO0=@=0OOoo*~~~~~~~~~~*  
  
                                Part  
Fifteen  
  
                        *~~~~~~~~~~*=@=*~~~~~~~~~~*  
  
        Welsh was minding his  
own business, which at that  
moment in time was tucking a file away  
in a cabinet, when a  
tap on his door caught his attention. He looked around to  
see Huey, with Francesca hovering behind him. At a signal  
from the Lieutenant, Huey opened the door, poking his head  
into the room.  
        "Francesca would  
like to talk to you, she says it's  
important."  
        "Send her in."  
        Huey ushered her  
in then closed the door.  
        "Take  
a seat."  
        Frannie  
sat while he moved to his own.  
        "This  
is about your brother I assume."  
          
                        *~~~~~~~~~~*=@=*~~~~~~~~~~*  
  
        Huey watched as Francesca  
walked out of the bullpen, he  
was justifiably curious as to her  
reasons for being there,  
and his discovery of said reasons was preceded by a whistle  
from Welsh. When he looked around, it was to see Welsh  
signalling him and he hurried to the office.  
        "Should I follow  
her?"  
        Welsh  
shook his head ushering him in, closing the door  
behind him.  
        "Why didn't you  
tell me Ray hasn't been home?"  
        "He's  
not there?"  
        "No  
he's not. He's in the hospital."  
        "Again?  
Did he have an accident?"  
        "No.  
Those damn burns of his became infected. According  
to Francesca  
they came within a hair's breath of amputating  
his arm because of the infection."  
        Huey gave a little wince  
at that.  
        "I  
just spoke to his doctor over the phone. He's  
history as a police  
officer. It's all over except the  
paperwork. He's never going to regain use of that arm. And  
his sight is permanently impaired."  
        "Maybe he can do  
something else, he's a great profiler,  
it would be a pity to.."  
        "Run that by me  
again???"  
        "He's  
the one who did those profiles for me."          
        "You're joking..  
He was practically on his death bed  
when you came up with the first  
one."  
        "I know.. that's  
what was so incredible about it."  
        "Are  
you sure he came up with it?"  
        "The  
Smitheson case *was* his case before the accident,  
hell there were  
details in that profile and the notes  
attached to it that weren't in the records, and others that  
were but they definitely weren't public knowledge, no one  
asked to see the records, the only person who could have  
written it was Ray."  
        "He couldn't even  
talk how on Earth did he..?"  
        "Ah,  
that was the Dragon Lady's contribution," Huey cut  
in, "She  
brought in a brace for his hand a writing stand. By  
the time I visited  
him he was getting pretty good with it.  
Had no trouble at all communicating. I guess he wrote  
everything up and gave it to her to type it up nice and  
neat."  
        "I thought it was  
done by the FBI's Master Profiler."  
        "No,  
he just wrote a cover note, backing up Ray's  
profile. He told me  
the man was his profiling coach and that  
if his first one helped  
me to crack the case he'd be doing  
it a lot more often in the future when he got back to work.  
But he didn't come back."  
        "How did you get  
the rest?"  
        "I  
bumped into him while he was out walking Deif  
around, just before  
he went to Canada, he told me all about  
his plans.. He even said that Thatcher had plans to get him  
into the FBI's profiler accreditation scheme.. So he'd come  
back to work with better skills than he left with."  
        "Hmmm..."  
        "Any way.. I used  
the information I got out of him that  
day to track him down when  
I ran into a brick wall on the  
Weisman case, he was thrilled to hear from me and didn't  
mind a bit when I asked him if he could do a profile for me.  
I sent  
him everything I had on the case.. Two weeks later it  
came back  
with the profile that helped me break it.. And you  
know that that  
profile was even better than the Smitheson  
Profile. It was so good the D.A used it during the trial.  
When I told Ray that, he said he'd be happy to do it again,  
any time I really needed one."  
        "And he did do it..  
three more times."  
        "And  
we got a conviction on all those cases, thanks to  
his work.. That's  
gotta be worth something."  
        Welsh slapped Huey on  
the arm, and started leading him  
to the door.  
        "Oh, it's worth  
something alright, you may just have  
saved the Vecchio's house."  
        "What? Is he going  
to lose the house?"  
        "Not  
any more.. Now, get going, you were supposed to  
take over from Dewey  
half an hour ago."  
          
                        *~~~~~~~~~~*=@=*~~~~~~~~~~*  
  
        "I know you're awake  
Ray."  
        "I  
don wanna talk to you, go 'way."  
        He  
heard paper snapping.  
        "Do  
you know what I've got right here in my hot little  
hands?"  
        "A piece of paper."  
        "A cheque..  
From the CPD."  
        "What??"  
        "And another  
one from Lieutenant Welsh."  
        "What  
did you do Francesca?"  
        "I  
went to the station and had a talk to him. He came  
around this morning  
and gave me the cheques."  
        "What are they for?"  
        "The one from  
the Lieutenant is a loan, you can pay him  
back later, with interest..  
The other is Payment for  
services rendered.."  
        "What services?"  
        "He said it  
was for some Profiling work you did for  
Huey.. Huey forget to mention  
you were the profiler who did  
the work, when he found out, he talked to the Chief, who  
talked to the Commissioner about it, who talked to someone  
else about it, found out what the going rate for profilers  
is and now - you're $9000 better off."  
        "I am.."  
        "And that's how  
you're gonna pay back the loan. You're  
gonna finish your studies  
get your certification and become  
an accredited profiler. Or else."  
        "Or else what?"  
        "The Luitenant'll  
come around and put you out of your  
misery, that's what."  
        Ray chuckled.  
        "Now..  
About the house."  
  
                        *~~~~~~~~~~*=@=*~~~~~~~~~~*  
  
        Ray listened to what  
was for him the distinctive sound  
of his Doctor crossing the room.  
        "Your timing's atrocious,  
Doc."  
        "It  
is, why?"  
        "You  
just missed Frannie again."  
        "I  
did??"  
        "Yeah,  
she came around to do a little gloating.."  
        "Damn.."  
        Ray chuckled.  
        "Well.. You sound  
much better. Whatever she came to  
gloat about seems to have done  
wonder's for your mood."  
        "It  
did.. This is one time, I don't mind being wrong."  
        Ray  
listened to the Doctor moving to the side of the  
bed and heard the  
sounds that always preceded one of his  
examinations.  
        "She told me you  
got the test results back.."  
        "We  
can make sure the infection doesn't take hold again  
with antibiotics  
now."  
        "So do you know  
where I got it? I doubt it was your  
surgery, you're so much of a  
clean freak, a germ wouldn't  
stand a chance there."  
        "In a manner of  
speaking I did give it to you, it was  
the skin we cloned for the  
grafts."  
        "What?!"  
        "It's not the first  
time it's happened, though it's  
never happened to me before. The  
lab the cloning is carried  
out in must be absolutely sterile, the nutrient solution we  
clone the tissue in would be heaven to germs, they'd  
multiply like crazy in it."  
        "And that's what  
happened. All my grafts are gonna turn  
black and.."  
        "You're talking  
to the clean freak, remember," The  
Doctor cut in. "I had  
12 different batches cloned. The fact  
that has been no sign of cross  
infection is what made me  
suspect it was the grafts. I was right, 3 batches were  
contaminated. But I always make sure there's more than I  
need, so that I can use the rest for tests.. The last thing  
I want is to discover a patient has allergies to some lotion  
I use  
or prescribe. According to my records the batch I used  
on your arm  
was cloned when the contaminated batches were  
produced."  
        "And the rest weren't?"  
        "They did them  
in batches of four.. The last batch of  
four was contaminated. Every  
thing else would appear to be  
clean."  
        "How did it get  
contaminated?"          
        "That's what I'd  
like to know.. I've reported it, there  
will be an investigation,  
and you shouldn't be surprised if  
a lawyer comes around and tries to sweet talk you into  
accepting a pittance in compensation to get them off the  
hook."  
        "Compensation.."  
        "You have a  
right to sue them for what happened. Now  
take my advice.. He's going  
to make you an offer. Nod and  
say, that'll do, for starters."  
        Ray chuckled.  
        "I  
have a question for you now. Why did you say my  
efforts to give  
you your looks back terrible? It's been  
driving me crazy."  
        Ray smiled faintly.  
        "My lady doesn't  
know what happened to me.. She's  
pregnant and the Doctor said, if  
she didn't reduce the  
stress she was under she'd loose the baby. I was hoping I  
could pretend it never happened with her."  
        "And how did you  
keep her ignorant?"  
        "She  
was in Canada.. I came back home for a break.. And  
this happened..  
I'm a cop, she's a Mountie.. She thinks I've  
been on an undercover  
assignment. But now she's gonna take  
one look at my face and .."  
        "Is she as beautiful  
as your sister?"  
        "In  
her own way."          
        "In the interests  
of a harmonious relationship with my  
future brother in law.. I have  
a suggestion.. A good quarter  
of my patients are people who simply  
want to look good for  
their lover or spouse."  
        "It doesn't matter  
any more. She came back here.. She  
arrived the other day.. I was  
supposed to be there to greet  
her.. Frannie can only explain away my non appearance for so  
long."  
        "I'm sure they noticed  
her arms, what did she tell them  
happened to her arms?"  
        "Short and sweet,  
Kids and matches don't mix.. and left  
the rest up to their imagination."  
        "Good explanation."  
        "She already  
told them I got burned too. So they  
wouldn't ask questions about  
my arms. But that was before  
Frannie found out what went wrong."  
        "I assume there  
is a very good reason you would prefer  
it if your lover didn't find  
out the truth."  
        "Yeah.. We've been  
taking care of a friend of ours, who  
was left for dead by a guy  
who's since escalated his level  
of violence to outright murder.. And the same guy who messed  
him  
up is the one responsible for what happened to me."  
        "And  
you're concerned he might come back to finish the  
job."  
        "Very.. She's also  
a potential target.. Right now he's  
in Canada.. Which is why I'm  
glad she's back here now.. And  
I'd like to keep them as ignorant as possible about him for  
as long as possible.. Or at least keep her ignorant until  
the babies are born. He's on the mend at last but he's still  
got  
a long way to go.. Something set him off back home in  
Canada.. And he's likely to go right off the deep end if he  
finds out what's happening .. I need time to work with him,  
so that he won't go to pieces if this guy isn't caught  
before he decides it's time to finish what he started."  
        "And  
when is the baby due."  
        "Sometime  
within the next month..She's having twins  
actually, and I hear twins  
usually decide to enter the world  
early."  
        "So all you need  
to do is keep it from her for another  
month.. Is your sister coming  
back tonight?"  
        "Yes."  
        "Did you arrange  
for a visit at a specific time?"  
        "She  
said she'd be back around 6."  
        "Hmmmm.."  
        "Again with  
the Hmmm."  
        "Sorry..  
Tell me about your friend. What does he look  
like?"  
        "Everywhere we go,  
women drool.. Even Frannie does it.  
And it's not just because he's  
so good looking, he's oh so  
polite, when the came up with the word Gentleman, they had  
him in mind. And whoever said chivalry is dead never met  
him."  
        "It will work."  
        "What will  
work?"  
        "Does  
Francesca know what you've been doing?"  
        "Yes.  
I explained it all the other day."  
        "And  
your mother."  
        "She  
knows too."  
        "It  
will definitely work."  
        "What  
will work?"  
  
                *~~~~~~~~~~*=@=*~~~~~~~~~~*  
  
        Fraser was heading for  
the kitchen to make Meg a cup of  
herbal tea when he heard Frannie's  
voice.  
        "Paul says it'll  
be a few more days before the bruises  
fade and the swelling goes  
down. Then he can come home."  
        "So  
all we have to do is find a way to keep them from  
realising Ray  
hasn't been in the house for a few more days,"  
Mr's Vecchio's  
voice carried to Fraser's ears.  
        Fraser stopped dead in  
his tracks.  
        "I'm  
running out of ideas here."  
        "Come  
up with new ones, or you will spoil your  
Brother's surprise."  
        "I think it's a  
pretty stupid surprise."  
        "Francesca.."  
        "Well it is,  
she didn't fall in love with his looks in  
the first place, having  
cosmetic surgery to look better for  
her is just plain stupid.. I could think of better ways to  
spend a few thousand dollars."  
        Fraser's brows defected.  
        "Meg said he  
wasn't taking care of himself properly in  
the first place, his confidence  
was low, you said it  
yourself, when you picked him up from the airport he looked  
terrible.. If having this surgery gives him back his  
confidence, then it will be worth every dollar.."  
        Fraser started backing  
up.  
  
                *~~~~~~~~~~*=@=*~~~~~~~~~~*  
  
        Meg jumped when Fraser  
rushed into the room.  
        "Benton,  
don't do that to me."  
        Fraser  
looked at Meg closing the door and leaning  
against it.  
        "What's wrong? Something  
frightened you."  
        He  
shook his head.  
        "I..  
heard them.. Talking about Ray."  
        "Oh..  
What did they say?"  
        "He  
is not here.. He hasn't been here at all since we  
arrived."  
        "What? Why would  
they..?"  
        "Lie..  
I heard his mother say he wants to surprise  
you.. That he.."  
        "Stop right there  
Benton. Just answer yes or no."  
        Fraser  
nodded.  
        "Does  
the reason Ray hasn't been back here have  
anything to do with the  
surprise he has planned for me."  
        "Yes."  
        "And it would  
spoil his surprise if you told me what  
you heard, wouldn't it?"  
        "Yes."  
        She raised a brow and  
Fraser thought about it.  
        "Spoiling  
his surprise would be.. bad."  
        "Yes,  
Benton."  
        "Then..  
I will not tell you what I heard."  
        "You  
can tell me one th.... Owwwitch," Meg yelped her  
hand flying  
to her expansive belly.  
        Fraser gave her a suspicious  
look.  
        "Have  
you been drinking coffee again? You know that  
coffee is bad for  
you, when you drink coffee they become  
more active and move around and keep you awake all night and  
then  
you're grumpy and being grumpy is not good for you."  
        Meg  
rolled her eyes.  
          



	2. Heads of Tails

        Ray got no more than  
five paces into the house before  
his mother descended on him, and  
hugged him till he thought  
his ribs would crack.  
        "Ma, I like to breath,"  
he gasped.  
        "Don't  
ever do that again."  
        "It  
wasn't intentional."  
        She  
stepped back and studied him.  
        "What  
do you think?"  
        She  
stepped back and took a good look.  
        "I  
think it looks good."  
        "Good..  
You think it looks good, I think it looks  
great."  
        She laughed at that and  
nodded.  
        "It  
does. Now show me your arms."  
        Ray  
held out his arms and she slid back his sleeve  
revealing an elastic  
brace that ran from the knuckle to the  
elbow and beyond on the right arm. When she tugged back the  
sleeve, his left arm was covered from the wrist to the elbow  
and  
beyond with the same kind of brace, but there was a  
metal brace with an elbow & wrist joint over it, and his  
left hand was covered completely with a medical glove, the  
metal brace extending up to his knuckles.  
        "How long do you  
have to wear those?"  
        "The  
one on the right.. For at least a few more weeks.  
The one on the  
left, for quite some time to come. But this  
time, I know that when they come off my arm's will look as  
close to normal as Paul could get them."  
        "Oh, now it's Paul,  
instead of The Doctor."  
        "Get  
used to it, He's gonna start dropping in, he's got  
*intentions*."  
        "Intentions?"  
        "Yeah, he wants  
to court Frannie."  
        "What?!"  
        Ray chuckled.  
        "He is totally smitten  
with her.. And it's a sure bet  
she isn't going to say no to him  
when he asks her out, the  
man looks like Brad Pitt. Think, Interview with a Vampire  
and you'll get the idea."  
        She looked up into his  
eyes.  
        "You  
*can* see.. You're not wearing those goggles any  
more."  
        He nodded.  
        "He got me contact  
lenses which filter out most of the  
light"  
        "That's why your  
eyes have changed colour."  
        "Right,  
I can't see as well as I used to, but, I had my  
eyes tested after  
I got these, and he's ordered a special  
pair of prescription lenses, but they'll take a while, cause  
they're  
a special order. But I got a script for glasses that  
I can use with  
these. The optometrist said they'd be ready  
tomorrow."  
        "That's one less  
thing you have to explain."  
        "Did..  
you.. set things up for me?"  
        "You  
know that Francesca has an inbuilt radar that  
tells here where Fraser  
is."  
        Ray chuckled at that.  
        "We set things  
up.. He's *overheard* us discussing it  
three times."  
        "Good."  
        "Is that Ray?"  
Frannie called out.  
        Ray  
looked around, to watch Frannie approach then stop  
dead in her tracks,  
her eye's widening and her jaw dropping.  
        "Oh-mi-God."  
        He chuckled.  
        "You look..."  
        He gave her the  
wind up sign.  
        "Great.."  
        He laughed at that.  
        "Where are  
they?"  
        "Up  
stairs.. Fraser is Maria's room, sleeping, Meg is  
in yours."  
        "Is she awake?"  
        "Yes."  
        Ray took a deep  
breath and headed for the stairs.  
        "Time  
to face the music."  
        "Hold  
it right there."  
        Ray  
stopped looking at his mother.  
  
        "I know what you  
are planning to do. Move out again. In  
her state.. I won't hear  
of it, We'll convert the dining  
room into a bedroom, that way she won't have to deal with  
the stairs," his mother stated firmly.  
        "I knew you'd say  
that.. But we're doing it anyway, the  
maniac who sent me that surprise  
parcel is still out and on  
the loose, and after what Welsh told me there is no way I am  
going  
to risk the family by staying here a minute longer  
than I have too. End of discussion."  
        "He thinks your  
dead."  
        "We  
don't know that, that damn surprise package was  
meant to disfigure  
not kill and he's gone from random acts  
of aggravated violence to murder and arson and there's a  
chance that he could come after Meg next, and if he comes  
after her he's gonna find out about me and Fraser.. And  
that's why we're outta here as soon as I can find a safe  
place to move into. I don't want anyone else getting hurt  
like Frannie was."  
        "I'm going to take  
him over to the place we rented,  
Ma."  
        Their mother looked at  
around.  
        "The  
house near the hospital?"  
        Frannie  
nodded.  
        "In  
her state she should be close to the hospital. And  
It was like a  
fortress."  
        Her mother nodded.  
        "Yes, I remember  
that. Bars on every window and  
security shutters."  
        "Sounds good to  
me," Ray said, "The question is wether  
or not it's still  
available?"  
        "It is, I put a  
deposit down, so they'd hold it till  
you got out of hospital so  
you could look at it."  
        "Fine, if it's O.K  
with you, we'll take a look at it  
tomorrow," Ray said.  
        Frannie nodded.  
        "Great, can we make  
it around 9ish?"  
        "Sure,  
but we've got all day."  
        "No,  
we don't.. Paul is reopening his surgery tomorrow,  
and he's got  
your name at the top of his list of rescheduled  
appointments.. You're  
down for 10.. First patient of the  
day. He wants to get your treatment over and done with."  
        "What?!"  
        "What's the  
matter, I thought you'd be happy to have  
the treatment over and  
done with."  
        "I am."  
        "Fine.. Find something  
really good to wear.."  
        "Why?"  
        "I could be  
wrong, but the Doc was always sooo  
disappointed when I told him  
he just missed you.. I think  
he's got the hots for you, so wear something nice and you  
never know.. he might ask you what your doing later when  
he's through."  
        "Isn't he married  
to Charlene?"  
        "Charlene?  
She's his sister. Trust me, this guy is  
Interested with a capital  
I. Play your cards right and you  
could reel this one in and land him."  
        "Are you doped again?"  
        "What you think  
I can't tell when a guy is interested  
in my sister.. Trust me, he's  
interested."  
        "Yeah right, when  
he's got his pick of the most  
gorgeous women in town strutting through  
his surgery every  
day. Beside's.. It's true what they say."  
        "What?"  
        "That all the cute  
ones are Gay."  
        Ray  
laughed.  
        "Like  
Benton."  
        "Benton  
is not Gay.. He's Bi," Ray said before he  
turned and headed  
up the stairs, he stopped at the first  
landing and looked back.  
        "Oh, By the way,  
I would appreciate it if we we're  
disturbed, Meg and I have a lot  
to discuss. "  
        Frannie turned to her  
mother as Ray started bounding up  
the stairs again.  
        "Translation, he's  
gonna prove that Italian men like  
their women big."  
        Ray stopped dead and  
peered over the railing.  
        "Francesca,  
were you eavesdropping on my conversation  
with Lieutenant Welsh???"  
        "Were you talking  
to him, I thought you were talking to  
her on the phone."  
        "I was you eavesdropper."  
        "I wasn't eavesdropping.  
I just heard part of your  
conversation on my way to the laundry."  
        "Sure you did."  
        "You know if  
you keep this up, she's going to fall  
asleep before you get up there."  
          
                        *~~~~~~~~~~*=@=*~~~~~~~~~~*  
  
        Meg was propped up with  
numerous pillows on Ray's bed,  
reading when the door opened, quietly  
and Ray's hand slipped  
around the frame to turn off the light. She  
looked up as the  
door opened all the way to see Ray silhouetted  
in the door.  
        "How's my favourite  
beached whale?" He quipped as he  
approached the bed.  
        Her smile became a look  
of confusion, and he moved to  
the edge of the bed to sit at her  
side.  
        "How are you feeling?"  
        She reached out  
to turn the lamp on, did a double take  
when she saw him in the light.  
        "Are you wearing  
a wig?"  
        He  
laughed and ran a hand through his hair.  
        "No..  
That's all the real thing. I had a hair  
transplant.. Among other  
things."  
        "You had cosmetic  
surgery!"  
        He  
nodded.  
        "Do you like it?"  
        She reached out  
to touch his face.  
        "Why  
did you.."  
        "Now  
no one is gonna ask why you're with me instead of  
Fraser."  
        Meg worked out what his  
little surprise was.  
        "And  
I wanted to look good, for you. And I think it was  
worth it.. Everyone  
kept telling how terrible I looked now  
it's Migod, you look great," He said smiling.  
        "You.. Do.."  
        He smiled even more.  
        "But."  
        The smile vanished.  
        "But what?"  
        "How could  
you *waste* so much money.. That must have  
cost you a fortune..  
And your about to become a father too,  
how could you.."  
        "Don't worry about  
the money.. It didn't cost me a  
cent."  
        "What???"  
        Ray held up his arm,  
the sleeve fell back showing his  
brace and the glove.  
        "Frannie told you  
about the fire the kids lit and how  
we got burned trying to put  
it out."  
        She nodded.  
        "The Doctor we've  
been seeing to get the burns treated  
is a cosmetic surgeon, he's  
the best around. He did the work  
on my face gratis. Well not exactly  
gratis, he gave me my  
money back."  
        "Why?"          
        "He's got the  
hots for Frannie, and thought it was a  
good way to get into his  
potential brother in law's good  
books."  
        "Potential brother  
in law???"  
        "Oh  
yeah, he's gonna start courting her soon."  
        "He's  
not courting her now?"  
        "She's  
still his patient, and he doesn't date  
patients.. But once he zaps  
the last of her scars away,  
she's not gonna be a patient any more. As for money, you  
don't have to worry about any more.. Something went wrong  
with one of my skin grafts.. I was gonna sue the pants of  
the lab who's fault it was.. But Paul went and negotiated a  
deal with them.. A law suit like mine could have them shut  
down, permanently, over what they say was essentially a  
freak accident.. They gave me a tour and explained how they  
do everything and agreed to change one or two things, to  
ensure an accident like that never happens again. I agreed  
to take the deal they offered in exchange for dropping the  
law suit.. And it was a two fold deal, they cover all the  
bills that crop up as a result of what happened and  
everyone's happy. And I get two pay outs.."  
        "Two??"  
        He reached into his pocket  
and pulled out a cheque and  
handed it to her. She looked at it her  
eyes widening.  
        "$250,000 dollars."  
        "That's not  
going to last long.. I'm gonna use it to  
buy a new house."  
        "You said there  
were going to be two payments."  
        "The  
second one will be decided once we know what the  
end result of what  
happened is. But right now I've got  
enough money to buy the house I was looking into buying, and  
keep  
going till I finish my studies.."  
        He reached out to run  
a hand over her belly.  
        "And  
set things up right for these little miracles."  
        He  
was going to say more, but he forget what he had in  
mind when he  
felt a good strong kick against his hand and  
Meg gave a little hiss.  
        "Woah.. Now that's  
what I call a kick."  
        "Move  
your hand to the other side."  
        Ray  
did and felt a kick against his hand again, then  
another.  
        He spread his fingertips  
over the other side and felt  
movement there.  
        "My god.. They're  
having a party in there."  
        "I  
should have listened to Fraser."  
        "Oh,  
why?"  
        "He  
keeps saying, you know what happens when you drink  
coffee, they  
always get active."  
        Ray chuckled and moved  
closer.  
        "May  
I?  
        She nodded and  
he leaned over her to put an ear to her  
belly and listened to the  
beating of the babies hearts.  
        "They sound pretty  
healthy... But then I'm no expert."  
        "I've  
got ultrasound's somewhere in one of my bags. The  
Doctor says, they're  
disgustingly healthy. But they wouldn't  
dare be anything but.. Not  
after the way Fraser's been molly  
coddling me. Nothing passes my  
lips that he didn't approve  
of first, except the occasional cup of coffee."  
        "Really."  
        "He has been collecting  
magazines on the subject ever  
since he found out. If I hear him  
quote one more so called  
expert on the subject of having children, he's going to need  
a nose  
job."  
        Ray laughed.  
  
                *~~~~~~~~~~*ooOO0=@=0OOoo*~~~~~~~~~~*  
  
                                Part  
Sixteen  
  
                        *~~~~~~~~~~*=@=*~~~~~~~~~~*  
  
        Frannie stood on the  
porch of the urban fortress  
watching Ray's car, until she heard  
footsteps approaching  
and looked around to see Ray step onto the porch.  
        "What do you think?"  
        "I think it's  
perfect, security wise. That big room out  
back connected to the  
office would make a perfect nursery  
for the babies. And having 3 toilets, two showers *and* a  
main bathroom is great, there wouldn't be any arguments  
about needing the bathroom around here."  
        "The best thing  
about it is that they all have separate  
hot water systems."  
        "Really, that's  
great. Did you notice the fittings in  
that main bathroom, I'm positive  
this place was converted  
for an invalid, Meg wouldn't have problems."  
        "Except with the  
colour scheme."  
        "I  
was talking about the bathroom. The colour scheme of  
the place can  
be fixed. I love that office, did you see that  
file room, and those  
built ins, it's perfect. Or would be..  
I'll have to rip out the door and replace it with a set of  
French doors, then it'll be perfect.. And that kitchen's  
great. I've never seen a refrigerator like that in a private  
home..  
It's huge and the amount of bench space in there is  
fantastic. I am so sick of tiny kitchens with hardly any  
bench space."          
        "Since when did  
you care about how much bench space a  
kitchen had?"          
        "Since I started  
doing most if not all of the cooking  
for our household."  
        "Ah, then we'll  
have to get you to show us what you can  
do in the kitchen."  
        "Scratch that, I'm  
going to have to teach Fraser to be  
a good cook or we're gonna be  
eating a lot of take away  
food," he said holding up his hands, explaining why with  
that  
one simple gesture.  
        She laughed at that.  
        "I couldn't  
find the key for that door that leads  
upstairs, what's up there?"  
        "Bedrooms, a study,  
with in built shelves and a window  
seat, a storage closet, a kitchenette  
and another toilet."  
        "Really,  
how many bedrooms?"  
        "6."  
        "6! With the  
two downstairs that makes 8 Bedrooms."  
        "I  
think this place used to be some sort of medical  
center. The big  
rooms downstairs were the surgical suits,  
waiting room and offices."  
        "Ah that explains  
the size of the rooms, that bathroom  
and refrigerator.. How big  
are the rooms up stairs?"  
        "Most are about  
the size of the office. There are two  
that are the size of the room  
you're thinking of as a  
nursery."  
        "Great, Did you  
notice how big that dining room is? I  
could turn that into a joint  
lounge/dining room and turn the  
lounge into a pool room."  
        "Did *you* notice  
that there's reverse cycle air  
conditioning in every room in the  
house?" Frannie pointed  
out.  
        "Yes. What's it  
like in summer?"  
        "Wonderful."  
        "Great.. The  
only thing I'm a bit worried about is the  
proximity to the road..  
The traffic's pretty heavy around  
here."  
        "Don't worry, the  
noise won't bother you. I think the  
house has been sound proofed,  
the only time we ever noticed  
the traffic noises was when a window was open. Go back in  
and close the door and you won't hear it, trust me."  
        "O.K.. I'm sold  
on it.. Let's go," he said bounding  
down the stairs.  
        Frannie shook her head  
at it and followed after him.  
        "Don't  
you even want to know what the rent is like?"  
        "I  
already told you, Frannie, I'm not renting, I'm  
gonna buy it."  
        "I thought we had  
a deal.."  
        "I  
said I wasn't going to sell the house to buy this  
place. I didn't  
say I wouldn't buy this place if I liked  
it."  
        "So how do you think  
you're going to buy this place?  
with the money from Welsh and your  
back pay you *might* have  
enough for a deposit, but Margaret would  
be the one who'd  
have to keep up the repayments and she hates the place. The  
only way you'd convince her to go for it would be to spruce  
the place up and you wouldn't have any money left to do that  
with  
and..."  
        Ray pulled the cheque  
out of his pocket and held it  
out. She trailed off taking the cheque  
to look at it and  
stopped dead.  
        "Where did you get  
this?!"  
        "It's  
part of the compensation pay out for what  
happened."  
        "You could have  
got a lot more than this, Ray," Frannie  
berated him.  
        "And I *will*. That's  
just a fraction of what I'll get  
in the end.. That's just hush money,  
to keep me from kicking  
up a stink about until it's all settled,"  
he said heading  
for the car again.  
        Frannie couldn't think  
of anything to say about it, and  
followed him to the car. Opening  
the door she climbed in  
stretching out to open the passenger side door for Ray. He  
climbed in pulling the belt on, before he reached for the  
door.  
        "Belt up."  
        She rolled her eyes,  
belting up before she started the  
car.  
        "By the way, I did  
mention that I expect you and Ma to  
move in with us, didn't I."  
        "I don't see why  
we have too. Maria and Tony took the  
kids and.."  
        "I didn't mean permanently,  
I meant until Dante is  
dealt with, one way or another."  
        "Did you tell her  
about him yet?" Frannie asked as she  
turned the car around  
and waited for a break in the traffic.  
        "No."  
        "You have to  
tell her sometime."  
        "The  
lieutenant is in touch with the RCMP who are  
tracking him, if he  
crosses the border, he'll know it, and  
he'll let me know as soon as he gets the word, if that  
happens before she has the twins, then I'll tell her. Other  
wise, I'll wait till the twins are born, take her out for  
the night, get her into a good mood, then tell her  
everything."  
        "Better make that  
a *really* good mood, she's gonna  
kill you when she finds out you've  
been lying to her all  
this time."  
        "Tell me something  
I don't know.. I hope you don't mind  
if I drop into the precinct  
after we talk to the agent. I  
gotta give the Lieutenant that cheque he gave you back and  
thank him.."  
        "Are you forgetting  
my appointment. You made it."  
        "Oh,  
yeah.. What's the time?"  
        "You're  
the one with the watch."  
        Ray  
patted his pockets and found his fob watch pulling  
it out.  
        "Hmm.. Better head  
for the surgery first. God only  
knows how long all the paper work  
will take."  
          
                        *~~~~~~~~~~*=@=*~~~~~~~~~~*  
  
        Ray was half way through  
a chapter in one of his  
psychology text books when the door of the  
car opened. He  
marked his page and looked around as Frannie climbed in  
smiling like the cat that got the canary.  
        "Well how'd it go?"  
        "You were right,  
he *did* ask me out."  
        He  
chuckled at that.  
        "By  
the way, you know how you said tell me something I  
don't know?"  
        Ray nodded.  
        "Charlene thinks  
you're cute and wants to know if  
you're taken."  
        Ray laughed at that.  
        "I hope you  
told her I'm spoken for."  
        "He  
told her that you were not only spoken for but  
about to become a  
father. She looked so disappointed."  
        Ray chuckled, tucking  
his bag away into his bag as  
Frannie belted up.  
        "Paul asked me to  
give you this," Frannie said holding  
out an envelope with a  
business card clipped to the front  
with a paperclip.  
        "So it's Paul now,"  
he teased taking the envelope, and  
looking at the card. "What's  
this for?"  
        "He wants you to  
make an appointment with that  
photographer, for photographs, so  
he can have *after*  
photographs, for your files. And unless you object he'd like  
to  
put your before and after pictures in his display to show  
future  
patients."  
        "Ah. Well.. I can  
hardly object to that now can I."  
        "He  
said, take a look at the *before* pictures before  
you make up you  
mind, you can say no if you want.. He'll  
understand."  
        Ray pulled the clip off  
and opened the envelope to pull  
out the picture and for the first  
time saw what the acid did  
to him. He shuddered at the first photo,  
which showed the  
horrendous burns to his face, throat, chest and upper arms.  
He flipped to the next one which showed his face in close up  
and  
gave another shudder then ran a finger down his nose.  
        "No wonder he gave  
me a nose job," he muttered.  
        "He  
did a great job on your nose," Frannie commented as  
she started  
up the car.          
        "I  
had no idea the damage was this bad. The way the  
Doctor at the hospital  
went on I thought the burns to my  
face were pretty mild."  
        "He understated  
it."  
        "That's  
for sure."  
        He  
quickly flipped through the rest of the photo's each  
new picture  
eliciting another shudder. Keeping the facial  
shot separate he tucked the rest into the envelope and  
studied the facial shot, trying to remain clinical about it  
as he touched his face, thinking about the way he looked  
now. After studying it for a time he tucked it away with the  
rest  
and the envelope joined his book.          
        "Oooh-kay,  
Let's make the first stop the banks and see  
if we can cash these  
cheques, then we can grab something to  
eat before we go to the agent.. And after that we hit the  
mall."  
        "The mall? I thought  
you wanted to go to the precinct  
to return that cheque."  
        "Yeah, but we can  
go there later. I feel like.. Letting  
my hair down.. I've been cooped  
up for months, it's time for  
a little fun.. So after we get through  
with the agent we're  
hitting the mall and going shopping, I was thinking of  
taking Meg and Benni out for dinner, which means Benni needs  
some  
decent clothes, and Meg need's a nice dress."  
        "She needs more  
than a nice dress, her maternity  
wardrobe is all huge t-shirts and  
sweat pants."  
        "Fine, I'll get  
a few nice things. But the first thing  
on the list is finding you  
the perfect outfit for your hot  
date tonight.. Hmm and maybe a visit to the beautician and  
the hair salon to get your hair done."  
        She glanced at him for  
a second.  
        "My  
treat. I'm feeling grateful, milk it for all it's  
worth while you  
can."  
        "O.K, are you feeling  
grateful enough to give me the  
Riv, since you can't drive any more."  
        "Don't push it."  
        She chuckled.  
          
                        *~~~~~~~~~~*=@=*~~~~~~~~~~*  
          
        Ray leaned on the counter  
at the most expensive dress  
shop the mall had and watched Frannie  
do a twirl in a dress  
that would make any red blooded American male look twice,  
even if he happened to be a red blooded American gay male.  
The sales assistant looked at Ray hopefully.  
        "Show me what the  
other one looks like."  
        Frannie  
dashed off to the change room again.  
        "Well  
take that one too. Can you have them delivered to  
our place?"  
        "Yes, sir."  
        "Great,"  
Ray pointed to a white dress. And that one  
too.. But not a word  
to her about it. I want to surprise  
her."  
        The assistant smiled  
and started adding up the cost of  
the dresses.  
        "And we'll have  
the one in the window too."  
        "Which  
one?"  
        "The  
green one," he said and smiled as an idea came to  
him, "I'd  
like two of those.. Can I borrow your phone to  
find out the other  
size."  
        The assistant lead him  
around the sales desk and waved  
at the phone. Ray looked at the  
cordless phone, and then  
flipped it over and dialled the number.  
        "Can you do alterations?"  
        The assistant nodded.  
        Ray picked it up  
and listened to it ring and ring, till  
it was finally answered.  
        "Hey Tony, it's  
me Ray.. Is Maria there? She is. Great.  
Put her on I need to ask  
her a question."  
        He waited for his sister  
to come to the phone, during  
which time Frannie came out in another  
dress.  
        "No way. No how,  
you look like a whore in that. Forget  
it. Show me what you look  
like in the one I picked."  
        "All you want to  
do is cover me up from head to toe,"  
Frannie declared as she  
flounced off back to the dressing  
room.  
        "I want you to look  
good, not cheap. You don't need to  
flaunt the flesh to get a mans  
attention."  
        "I take you don't  
want that outfit." The assistant  
commented once Frannie was  
safely esconded in the dressing  
room.  
        "You got that right."  
        Then his sister  
was on the line.  
        "Maria,  
I'd love to chat but I don't have time for it,  
I'm shopping and  
the assistant here let me borrow the phone.  
I was thinking.. Mother's  
day is coming up soon have you got  
something for Ma yet? No, great.  
I was thinking of giving  
her something from all three of us this year, a portrait..  
You like the idea, great, I just saw a dress that would look  
fantastic  
on you in a portrait, give me your dress size and  
I'll get it."  
        He listened to her babble  
about not being able to  
afford to buy a new dress at the moment.  
        "I said *I'll* buy  
it Maria, this is my treat.. Trust  
me, you are going to love this  
dress. Now I'm going to give  
the phone to the shop assistant I want you to tell her all  
your details, before I change my mind."  
        He handed the phone over  
and watched the assistant take  
down Maria's details, asking for  
her hip, waist and bust  
measurements taking those down before she handed the phone  
back to Ray.  
        "Yeah, I'm back..  
No.. I haven't made the appointment  
yet, I'll let you know when  
it's all set and get Frannie to  
drop the dress off, with a little something extra, so you  
can get your hair down for the portrait, and buy the little  
rug rat's something nice to wear. Oh and Tell Tony to find a  
nice  
suit. Something in green or brown. Well of course he's  
gonna be included in the portrait... Oh.. Fine, take him  
shopping and find something and tell them to hold it and  
I'll pay for the damn suit then.. I really gotta go. I'll  
talk to you later."  
        He hung up and rolled  
his eyes making the assistant  
chuckle.  
        "Can you make out  
separate bills? I don't want Frannie  
to work out I'm buying more  
than one dress. I'll come back  
and pay for the bulk of it after I leave her in the clutches  
of  
a beautician."  
        "I think we can  
do that.."  
        "Great..  
I'll also have that dress, that dress and that  
one over there in  
Maria's size."  
        "If I can make a  
suggestion, sir?"  
        "Sure."  
        The assistant put  
a hand on his back and lead him to  
the door and pointed across the  
way.  
        "They have a suit  
that would match the dress you  
ordered for the portrait with your  
sisters *perfectly*."  
        "Thanks..  
I'll take a look over there when I come back  
later."  
        "And while you're  
at it, perhaps you should visit a  
hair stylist too."  
        Ray racked a hand through  
his mop of hair silently  
agreeing with her, it had been well over  
a year since he'd  
had a hair cut, he'd been intending to get one while he was  
'on holiday' instead it just gotten longer.  
        "That's not a bad  
idea. I don't suppose there's a good  
his and hers salon around here?"  
        The assistant pointed  
down the thoroughfare.                  
        "Down that  
way, take a left, then a right, it's half  
way down the block."          
        "Ah, thank-you."  
        "And a dress  
like that should have matching jewellery,"  
she went on moving  
back to the shop desk and rustling up a  
card.  
        When Ray joined her she  
handed it to him.  
        "That's  
the card of the jeweller who supplied the  
jewellery on the mannequins."  
        "Thank-you."  
        Frannie returned  
clearing her throat loudly and he  
turned looking around and stared  
at her for a good ten  
seconds.  
        "Got any complaints  
now?" He asked.  
        She  
shook her head, and looked at the price tag.  
        "Just  
about the price.. It's almost $800."  
        "No  
one's gonna call you cheap in that. Wrap it up,  
we'll take it."  
        Frannie bounded back  
to the change room with a smile.  
        "Now,  
where can I get the shoes and accessories to  
match those dresses?"  
he asked the assistant.  
        She pulled out a pad  
and pen and began writing the  
details down.  
        "You seem to know  
where all the good places to shop  
around here, you couldn't point  
me in the right direction to  
find some nice maternity wear could  
you, my lady's *very*  
pregnant, and the clothes she's wearing are strictly  
blahsville. I want something that'll make her look drop dead  
gorgeous."  
        "We have a number  
of maternity dresses. That Red  
Velveteen dress over there for example,"  
she said pointing.  
        Ray  
looked around and checked the dress out.  
        "There  
are ties at the back which make it adjustable."  
        "Hmmm..  
I like it.. I'll take that too and ring you  
back with the size later..  
Does it come in any other  
colours?"  
        "Yes, Emerald Green,  
Sapphire Blue, Shimmering Gold,  
Deep Purple and Midnight Black."  
        "Great, I'll have  
one of each."  
        Frannie  
popped up behind him.  
        "One  
of each what?"  
        Ray  
pointed.  
        "That.  
For Meg, it's a maternity dress.. You wouldn't  
have any idea what  
her size is would you?"  
        "Gotta pen?"  
Frannie asked the assistant.  
        The  
assistant ripped the page off the pad, handing it  
to Ray, then gave  
Frannie the pad and pen.  
        "What's that?"  
        "A list of  
places to get the accessories for that  
incredible dress," Ray  
said tucking it into his pocket.  
        The  
assistant took the pad back and looked it over.  
        "We  
can have these delivered, by Thursday."  
        "No  
sooner?"  
        "Well,  
the one on the mannequin is the right size, it  
could be adjusted  
to a woman of this size."  
        "Can we take that  
one today?"  
        "Will  
that be credit card or cheque?"  
        Ray  
pulled a huge wad of bills out of his pocket and  
started peeling  
off hundred dollar bills, making the  
assistants eyes light up.  
        "Cash."  
  
                        *~~~~~~~~~~*=@=*~~~~~~~~~~*  
  
        Ray left Frannie in the  
beauty salon, and carried the  
myriad of boxes and bags to the Riv,  
which was being watched  
by a security officer he'd slipped a c-note  
too to watch the  
car. With the officer's help he got all the purchases  
packed  
into the trunk. Then it was back to the dress shop to pay  
the smiling assistant for the other dresses he'd ordered and  
arrange  
for the ones he'd chosen for Maria to be delivered  
to her current address. He got a real kick out of the  
assistant dumping a society lady to rush to his side to deal  
with  
him. Especially when he recognised the snooty woman.  
He'd encountered her at some fund raiser he'd attended with  
Louise, and snob was the only word for the woman.  
        He headed for the menswear  
shop next and found out that  
the assistant was right, there was  
a green suit that would  
perfectly match the dresses he'd ordered for his sisters. He  
snapped  
it, and the accessories up on the spot and then  
picked out half a dozen more suits, while he was at it,          
necessitating another trip to the Riv before he wandered  
through the mall, wandering in and out of shops.  
        Three toy shops, six  
more clothing stores, shoe shops,  
jewellers, a Lingerie store, three  
gift shops an a Infant's  
and Toddlers store and numerous trips back and forth to the  
Riv later, he met Frannie at the beautician's to present her  
with  
a necklace and bracelet with matching drop earrings to  
go with her dress. A rib threatening hug later, he escorted  
her through to the hair salon where he was talked into  
something much more daring than the short back and sides cut  
he  
asked for by his sister and two stylists. The way he saw  
it, he could always ask for a short back and sides cut if he  
didn't  
like whatever style it was they decided was  
absolutely perfect for him.  
  
                        *~~~~~~~~~~*=@=*~~~~~~~~~~*  
  
        Welsh was returning from  
a trip to the men's room and  
wondering why things were so quiet  
in the bull pen. The  
answer came in the form of Huey approaching him with a thick  
envelope  
in hand.          
        "Lieutenant,  
you have two visitors.. The Director of  
the local branch of the  
FBI and the Police Commissioner..  
They're waiting for you in your office," Huey said.  
        "Do you know what  
they want?"  
        "No,  
but the Commissioner asked for some of my case  
files."  
        "Which ones?"  
        "All the ones  
Ray did profiles for me on. The Director  
wanted to have a look at  
them, the profiles that is."  
        "Did you give them  
to him?"  
        "I  
thought I'd check with you before I gave them to  
him.."  
        "Forget about it.  
The day I give that man any help  
without a direct order will be  
a cold day in hell," Welsh  
growled before he marched off for  
his office.  
        Elaine moved in on Huey  
once he was out of earshot.  
        "What's  
going on?"  
        "Well  
any moment now.. I think he's going to throw the  
Dictator out of  
his office."  
        "Don't you mean  
Director?"  
        "No,"  
Huey said, turning to walk back to his desk.  
        No  
sooner did Huey's tail hit his chair than Welsh's  
door was thrown  
open and the Director stormed out. Welsh  
followed him as far as the door way to watch him storm out  
of the bull pen then Welsh spun slamming the door behind him  
as  
he moved back into his office.  
        Elaine joined Huey.  
        "I don't suppose  
you know the winning numbers of  
tonight's lottery draw too."  
        Huey gave a weak chuckle  
at that.  
        "It  
was a pretty easy prediction," Huey said reaching  
for a pen  
and pad.  
        "Oh, by the way,  
did I mention that Fraser's back in  
town?"  
        "He is? When did  
he get back?"  
        "He  
arrived with the Dragon Lady, last week, they're  
staying at Ray's  
place."  
        "Not for long,"  
Dewey said.  
        Elaine  
and Huey jumped and looked around and Hewey  
wiggled his fingers  
at them.  
        "What are you doing  
here? You're supposed to be keeping  
the house under surveillance."  
        "Unless one of them  
left, in which case, I was supposed  
to call it in and follow them  
around."  
        "Who left?"          
        "Vecchio and  
his sister. She's driving him around."  
        "So  
what are you doing here, why aren't you following  
them?"  
        "I am, in a manner  
of speaking. They're out front, He  
wants her to stay in the car  
and wait there, she is sick to  
death of him telling her to watch the car and they're having  
an  
argument about it."  
        "You said they won't  
be at Ray's place for long, what  
did you do, creep up and eavesdrop?"  
        "No. It was pretty  
easy to work it out after I followed  
them.. First they went to a  
real estate agent, then they  
visited an urban fortress near the hospital, then it was off  
to  
the clinic. Where he spent over an hour in the car  
waiting for her, reading a book so thick it'd choke an  
elephant. After that, it was off to the bank, then back to  
the agents. I pretended to be checking out the for sale  
collection in the window and watched what was going on."  
        "And.."  
        "I could be  
wrong, but it looked like he brought the  
place he was looking at,  
and paid *cash* for it too."  
        "You're kidding."  
        "Like I said,  
I could be wrong. But I doubt it. I saw  
the agent make a call, then  
a guy in a cheap suit arrived,  
and they spent the next fifteen minutes dickering and he put  
his  
bag on the desk and pulled out bundles of cash and start  
piling  
them on the desk, and the guys eyes almost bugged out  
of his head,  
after that there was a lot of paper work being  
done."  
        "He paid *cash*  
for a house?!"  
        "A  
big house at that. Mind you, I saw the card for that  
house up on  
the display, it was going for $175,000."  
        "He paid $175,000  
*cash*."  
        "From  
the way they were dickering, and the way he and  
Frannie celebrated,  
I'd say he got it for less than that."  
        "How  
did they celebrate?"  
        "They  
hit the high end mall, and hit all the exclusive  
designer clothing  
shops, shoe shops, jewellery stores.. And  
he flashed a huge wad of cash in every place."  
        "What?! I thought  
he was on the verge of bankruptcy."  
        "Let's  
see.. If that wad was all c-notes, he spent  
something close to $5000  
at the dress shop alone. Then there  
was the trip to that super book  
shop where he had half the  
shop assistants following after him, fawning as he brought  
up a copy of every motivational book they had along with  
every recipe book, half a dozen books on interior  
decorating, a huge stack of psychology text books, an even  
bigger stack of books on crime. Then he told Frannie to pick  
a few  
books and she went mad in the romance section. *And*  
he made their day by ordering even more books. The back of  
the car is just covered with books. He must have spent near  
on three and a half thousand there."  
        "Where the hell  
did he get the money??? It was only the  
other day his sister said  
he was this close to going to  
bankrupt, due to the medical bills," Huey said with a tiny  
gesture.  
        "I'd say he got  
it at the first and national."  
        "What?  
Why?"  
        "Well,  
he visited two banks before he hit the estate  
agents. And he took  
the bag into the First and National, and  
that's where he had the  
money he used to pay for the house.  
And it's a sure bet he's going to be moving the beached  
Whale and The Hen to that fortress before the weeks out."  
        "Beached  
whale and Hen?" Elaine said.  
        "Thatcher  
and Fraser."  
        "Beached  
whale?"  
        "She's  
pregnant."  
        "What?!"  
        "And she is  
H-UUU-GE. I'm betting she has triplets."          
        "Twins,"  
Huey said.  
        "Triplets,  
at the very least," Dewey said.  
        "Twins."  
        "Ray's going  
to be a daddy.." Elaine said, a smile  
appearing.  
        The two men looked at  
her.  
        "Ray?"  
They both said.  
        "Yes.  
Ray."  
        "Funny,  
I thought it was the Hen," Dewey said.  
        "Trust  
me, it's Ray," Elaine said.  
        "Well,  
he's obviously in the dog house over something  
then," Huey  
said.  
        "What do you mean?"  
        "Well, after  
he got home last night, he went up to his  
room, and spent maybe  
an hour with her, then he spent a few  
hours with Fraser, and after that, he spent the night on the  
couch."  
        "And you call me  
a peeping tom," Dewey said as he  
reached out and plucked a  
pen from the desk and walked away  
to find the form that had to be filled out, in triplicate,  
to say that nothing happened.  
        "I didn't have to  
peek," Huey informed Elaine. "The  
curtains weren't drawn,  
I saw him moving around from room to  
room."  
        "Uh-hu."  
        Huey went back to making  
his notes, hoping she'd  
disappear when Ray walked into the bull  
pen carrying a bag  
and looked around. A semi hush fell as people noticed him  
and started doing double takes. Elaine looked around and  
gaped, slapping Huey's arm. He looked around her and did a  
little gapping of his own. Elaine slapped him again and  
smiled, Huey sat up flipping his pad over so Ray wouldn't  
see what he'd been writing. Rising, Huey smiled at Ray as he  
approached.  
        "Who's in the office?"  
        "The Commissioner."  
        "Really, what's  
going on?"  
        Elaine  
and Huey both shrugged.  
        "You  
look... Great," Elaine gushed.  
        Ray  
grinned.  
        "Thanks,"  
he said giving his hair a nervous little tug.  
"I wasn't sure  
about the hair style, I wanted to get it all  
lopped off but Frannie  
convinced me to try something a  
little different."  
        "Don't even think  
of getting it cut off. It looks  
great, it make's you look at least  
ten year's younger."  
        He  
gave a weak smile at that, then Huey reached out to  
tweak his hair.  
Ray kicked his skin.  
        "It's real."  
        "Did you have  
a nose job?"  
        "No."  
        "It looks like  
you had one to me.. And Elaine's right,  
you do look at least ten  
years younger, and it's more than  
just that hair style. What did you do tell the doctor, while  
you're  
at it, take a little off the nose, give me a little  
more hair and take a fews years off."  
        Ray reached into his  
pocket and pulled out a  
photograph, the facial shot. He held it  
before Huey's face  
and watched the man recoil shuddering. Elaine peeked,  
shuddered and he put the photo away.  
        "Laugh that off."          
        "Is that you  
looked like before he started?"  
        Ray  
nodded.  
        "He did an incredible  
job."  
        "Yeah.  
That's what you call Serendipity. Here I was  
thinking that parcel  
going up in my face was the worst thing  
that ever happened to me..  
I can't believe how everything's  
working out now.. One day, I'm staring bankruptcy and the  
end to my career in the face and over night my life suddenly  
taken  
a turn for the better."  
        "So you found a  
solution to your money problems."  
        Ray  
held up his arm, pulling his sleeve back to show  
off his brace.  
        "I got an infection  
in this arm, through no fault of my  
doctor, or myself.. I almost  
lost my arm.. I only kept it  
because I've got the best Doctor in town looking after me.  
He went after the people who's fault it was that my grafts  
were infected, and they agreed to pay compensation without a  
big  
legal fight. They wanted to avoid a court case because  
their reputation would be shredded if something like that  
got made public. And they'd loose, because my Doctor can and  
did  
prove I got it via something he used during my treatment  
that he  
got from them which was contaminated on their end."  
        "So  
how much did you get out of them?"  
        "250."  
        "Thousand?"  
        "Uh-hu."  
        "That's peanuts."  
        "I'll get more  
later.. Once we know how serious the end  
result of the infection  
is. That was just Hush Money," he  
said.  
        "That won't last  
long with all the bills you must have  
racked up."  
        "Well, actually,  
that's why I was staring bankruptcy in  
the face.. I managed to cover  
all the bills for Frannie's  
treatment and mine with my savings...and cashing in a few  
policies.. But I was down to my last dollar and looking at  
selling the house as an option to stay on top of the bills,  
when Serendipity happened."  
        "So you don't have  
any bills to cover now?"  
        "Nope..  
Thanks to Frannie some money came in last week  
that will take care  
of the remainder and part of the  
compensation deal is that they pay all my related medical  
costs."  
        "So you can do what  
ever you like with it."  
        "Well  
I could.. But I won't."  
        "Oh???"  
        "I learned  
my lesson. I opened up two accounts at the  
bank.. I put 50 thou  
in an emergency account.. And I put 30  
aside to cover the usual expenses until the matter of how  
big a lump sum I get is worked out."  
        "That leaves around  
170 to play with."  
        "That  
was part of my budget too.. Frannie found this  
big house that's  
more secure than my place. It was going for  
175, but the owner agreed  
to drop it to 150 for Cash in  
Hand. Which meant I had around $20 thou that wasn't included  
in  
my budget to have fun with, and boy did I have fun. I  
can't wait to get home and see everyone's faces when all the  
things  
I brought today start arriving."          
        "What did you  
get?"  
        "Way  
too much stuff..I think I dropped around 15 thou..  
The biggest expense  
was a whole new wardrobe for Frannie..  
But I owe her big time anyway.. And it'll pay for itself  
soon enough," he said with a grin, "My sister's hooked her  
self a rich doctor.. and all the stuff I brought today is to  
help her reel him in and land him."  
        "What do you think  
her chances are?"  
        "Pretty  
damn good," he said opening his bag and pulling  
out a gift  
wrapped package.  
        He held it out to Elaine.  
        "I also got  
you something. A little gift, to say thanks  
for visiting while I  
was in the hospital."  
        "You didn't have  
to do that," she said accepting the  
gift anyway.  
        "Don't open it here,"  
he said as she prepared to do  
just that.  
        "Why not?"  
        "You'll see,  
later," he said pulling another gift  
wrapped parcel out of  
his bag and holding it out to Huey.  
        "This ones for you."  
        "What's this  
for?"  
        "Well  
Frannie told me you told the Lieutenant about  
those profiles I did  
as a favour for you."  
        "That's right."  
        "Well, if what  
Frannie told me is right, you might have  
secured my future career  
doing that."  
        Huey ripped the wrapping  
off to reveal a large box. He  
opened that to reveal a desk set,  
and every piece had his  
name embossed in gold lettering on it. In no time at all he  
had it all set up on his desk and was reorganising it.  
        "I knew you'd like  
it."  
        "What  
else have you got in that bag?" Elaine asked  
trying to peer  
in.  
        Ray held it open so she  
could see there was one last  
gift inside.  
        "I got something  
for the lieutenant too. Oh.. And I  
haven't forgotten that everyone  
chipped in to get my car  
restored like new after the accident," He said with a grin.  
        "What else did you  
do?"  
        "I've  
got to consult my mother to find out just who  
gets a big thank-you  
for that. And once I have all the  
names, then you'll find out what I've got in mind to thank  
all of you," Ray said before he wandered over toward Welsh's  
office to peek in and see what was going on.  
        Dewey returned to join  
Elaine and Huey and checked out  
Huey's gift.  
        "That's worth about  
250... I saw him buy that at one of  
those expensive gift shops,"  
He said, then he looked at  
Elaine's gift and grinned.  
        "Do you know what  
this is?"  
        "Well,  
let me put it this way. Don't open it here."  
        "What  
is it?"  
        "I  
could be wrong, but I could swear I saw him walk out  
of a lingerie  
shop with a few parcels just like that one."  
        "No  
wonder he told you not to open it here," Huey said  
with a laugh.  
        "Now that I've spared  
you some potential embarrassment,  
maybe you'll tell me how you know  
it's him not Fraser who's  
going to be a daddy."  
        "Well, it's simple.  
Before he decided to disappear off  
the face of the Earth Ray bounced  
in, grabbed me and asked  
me to help him find out what paperwork he had to file to  
make sure his Defacto relationship was officially  
recognised."  
        "Defacto.. The Dragon  
Lady is his Defacto Wife?!"  
        "Yep."  
        "I heard that,"  
Ray's voice drifted over.  
        "So  
when's the wedding Mr I heard that?"  
        "What  
wedding?"  
        "Oh  
come on, Ray, Don't tell me you're mother didn't  
start planning  
it after Margaret started visiting you every  
day in the hospital and gave you better bedside service than  
the  
nurses," Elaine said.  
        Ray wandered back with  
a faint smile.  
        "You  
maybe right about that, but you know what they say  
about the plans  
of mice and men, or in this case Mama."  
        "It  
didn't work out.. You were so happy when you.."  
        "I  
didn't say it didn't work out."  
        "Then  
why are you dragging your feet?"  
        "Well  
for one thing she hasn't asked me to marry her."  
        They  
all stared at him.  
        "What,  
you never heard of women's lib?"  
        They  
all rolled their eyes.  
        "I  
didn't call her the Dragon lady for nothing," Then  
he gave  
a love sick little sigh, "God, she's ravishing when  
she's breathing  
fire."  
        Elaine snickered while  
the men rolled their eyes. The  
sound of silence made them look around  
to see the  
Commissioner walking out of Welsh's office. He stopped,  
looking at them, then pointed at Ray and indicated he wanted  
him  
to join him. Ray's hand to went to his chest and the  
commissioner nodded. A little nervous and wondering why he  
was being singled out Ray crossed the space separating them.  
        "You  
are Detective Vecchio, aren't you?"  
        Ray  
nodded.          
        The  
commissioner frowned a little.  
        "Stay  
off TV. It makes you look considerably older than  
you are."  
        Ray gave a weak smile.  
        "I have been  
discussing your situation with the  
Lieutenant."  
        "My situation, sir?"  
        "Do you or  
don't you intend to return to duty?"  
        "At  
this time, I don't even know if or when I will be  
fit to return  
to duty."  
        "Physically speaking."  
        "Yes, sir."  
        "There's nothing  
wrong with your faculties."  
        "Oh  
no sir, they're working just fine."  
        "I've  
been told you're studying psychology, S.A.C and  
Criminology."  
        "And you were the  
one who wrote those psychological  
profiles that Detective Huey used."  
        "Yes, sir.. But  
it would be dishonest to claim the sole  
credit for them.. I did  
have a lot of help with the first  
few."  
        "From a highly experienced  
Profiler."  
        "They  
don't come with any higher experience than my  
coach does. He's the  
man who invented Profiling," Ray said  
with a grin.  
        The Commissioner waved  
at the office and after a  
nervous moment Ray headed for the office  
with the  
Commissioner on his heels.  
        "I have a proposition  
for you, Detective."  
        "A  
proposition.."  
        "Yes,  
one that will kill two birds with one stone."  
  
  
                *~~~~~~~~~~*ooOO0=@=0OOoo*~~~~~~~~~~*  
  
                                Part  
Seventeen  
  
                        *~~~~~~~~~~*=@=*~~~~~~~~~~*  
          
        Ray handed Meg a cup  
of herbal tea, approved by the  
Mother Hen and his mother, and gave  
a faint smile as she  
reached out to touch his nose as she took the cup.  
        "I wish people would  
stop doing that."  
        "You'd  
prefer I do what Ben was doing earlier?"  
        Ray  
gave a faint smile, remembering the way Fraser kept  
staring at his  
face earlier.  
        "You'll get used  
to it," he said as he sat beside her,  
curling his legs up,  
draped an arm over the back of the  
couch behind her and rested his other hand on her belly. She  
started  
twinging a finger in his newly acquired curls.  
        "So, how did the  
house hunting go today?"  
        "Frannie  
said you saw the house I brought. It was the  
one with all the bars  
on the window and the really gross  
colour scheme inside."  
        "Why do you want  
that dump? There was a much better  
house."  
        "Fraser hated it."  
        "Well I hate  
the one you want to buy."  
        "I  
can see it's potential. And you won't ask why I want  
that place  
once the painters are finished."  
        "Painters?  
        "I agree with you,  
the colour scheme is disgusting. I'm  
gonna have the painters in,  
to strip and repaint the place..  
You can pick the colour scheme..  
We can do that tomorrow,  
and when we've settled on a scheme we can visit a carpet  
warehouse and pick out something nice for the floor."  
        "So how much money  
do we have to play with to  
redecorate?"  
        "Well..I've got  
ten thousand left."  
        "What?!  
I can't believe you paid almost a quarter of a  
million for that  
dump.."  
        "I paid 150 for  
it..and put everything I budgeted away  
in the bank.. Which when  
I got the place for less than I  
expected left me with some money to play with."  
        "Ten thousand."  
        "Well, actually  
it was more than that.. I decided to  
have a little fun today.. I  
brought some gifts for my  
friends and family.. And I didn't forget you either."  
        "Ohhh.. What did  
you get me?"  
        "Most  
of it is going to be delivered later...But I did  
bring something  
back with me."  
        He pulled a faceted jewellery  
case from his pocket and  
held it out to her. With wide eyes she  
took it from him and  
opened it to look at the eternity ring inside.  
        "A ring."  
        "I got one for Benni  
too," he said in a low voice.  
"I'll give that to him later,  
when no one will ask questions  
about it."  
        He plucked the ring from  
the box.  
        "I  
got it engraved, see," he said turning the ring so  
she could  
see the message.  
        -Eternally yours (love  
heart) R.V -  
        She  
reached out to run a hand along his jaw, turning  
his head and kissed  
him, thoroughly. He pulled back  
reluctantly as her hand started wandering, and covered it,  
stopping her.  
        "Later."  
        She gave a little sigh,  
then held up her hand so he  
could slip the ring onto her finger.  
He smiled when he saw  
that it was a perfect fit, and raised her hand kissing it.  
        "I can't wait till  
we get settled down in the new  
place, Frannie said it's sound proof,  
and the main bedroom  
is down stairs. Ma and Frannie can stay up stairs."  
        "What do you mean  
they can stay upstairs, they aren't  
coming with us.. Are they?"  
        "Just until the  
babies are born. I'm pathetically  
useless around the house right  
now, you can't do any house  
work, and I want to break Fraser of his obsession with  
cleanliness and order.. That means I gotta rely on Ma and  
Frannie to help out. After that debacle with the Carer I  
hired I don't want to hire someone else. And Ma would be  
offended if I didn't invite her to stay with us at least  
until the babies are born."  
        "Of course. We'll  
have to get to work on redecorating  
that place straight away. With  
ten thousand to play with we  
can get a professional interior decorator to.."  
        "Forget it, Meg,  
I am not going to pay someone to foist  
their idea of good taste  
on me.. I don't want a fashionably  
decorated house, I want a comfortable  
home."  
        "It was just a suggestion.  
Besides.. I have some money  
of my own. I'll pay for the decorator."  
        "It's my house."          
        "Are you saying  
I have bad taste?"  
        "No,  
I think you have great taste.. What you did with  
that house in Canada  
was great and I think it's a waste of  
money to hire someone to do a job you can do yourself.. And  
it's not like you've got anything else to do."  
        "Hmmph."  
        "I bet whoever decorated  
that place in the first place  
all those years ago payed some fancy  
decorator to do the  
work for them and look at the result.. I don't want to end  
up looking around and saying ugh whatever possessed you to  
chose that scheme a few years down the track."  
        "But a decorator  
can find everything and arrange to  
have all the work done...."  
        "At inflated prices  
and rates higher than you could get  
it done for if you arranged  
it yourself."  
        "I'm not up to walking  
all around town."  
        "I  
brought some books and every decorator's magazine I  
could lay my  
hands on. We can spend the day going through  
them *Together*, you, me and Benni.. And we'll decorate the  
place *together*.. As for getting the work done.. Well.. I  
can find painter's and carpet layers for myself. You want a  
carpenter to do some work, I can find a carpenter.. You want  
to  
play musical furniture, I'll find muscle men to move the  
furniture till it's just right. I'd say me and Benni would  
do it, but I'm not capable of it at the moment.. But I can  
find plenty of people who are who won't charge us an arm and  
a leg  
to do it either."  
        He nuzzled at her ear.  
        "It'll be *our*  
place, we should do it together."  
        "Mhhmm..There's  
something else we should do together,  
it involves a bed and my two  
favourite men.."  
        He chuckled against her  
throat and she almost purred as  
he did a little nuzzling, a kiss,  
and nibble his way back to  
her ear.  
        "What say, tomorrow  
we book a suite at some place like  
the Drake, where you me and Benni  
can get reunited,  
properly, hmmm?" He said in a low purr.  
        "Why don't we do  
that now?"  
        He  
sat right back and sighed.  
        "Raymond?"  
        "I can't, or  
get up to anything more .. involved than a  
little necking right  
now."  
        "Why not?"  
        "I'm expecting  
someone to drop by."  
        "Who?"  
        "Well for starters,  
there's the courier who's gonna  
collect half the staff I brought  
today and bring it round,  
then there a few shop assistant's who agreed to deliver  
things to close a sale with me.. And then there's Lieutenant  
Welsh."  
        "Why is he coming?"  
        "Er.. Well  
I can't go back to my old duties at the  
precinct... I know that..  
The Commissioner made a  
proposition but I had to say no."  
        "Why?"  
        "He wants to stick  
me behind a desk for the rest of my  
working life, I almost resigned  
on the spot, I was actually  
in the middle of doing it.. When The Lieutenant said shut  
your mouth, go wait out there and let me sort this out.."  
        "And  
did he?"  
        "I  
don't know. He came out and said, he ran an idea  
past the commissioner  
that'd be more up my alley, and that  
they just had to agree on the terms of duty, wages, budget  
that sort of thing.. They were still hashing out details  
when I left. He said he'd drop in or ring me to let me know  
how it went."  
        "Do you know what  
he had in mind?"  
        "He  
wants me to complete my studies and become an  
accredited profiler..and  
come back and join the team again.  
Where as the Commissioner basically wants me to teach cadets  
how  
to do it at the academy, and go over unsolved murder  
case files and create profiles. The Lieutenant said there  
was a lot more to his idea of how I could serve on his team  
than what the Commissioner has in mind."  
        "Well, the Lieutenant  
has the right idea. You should  
finish your studies and get accredited."          
        "Oh, even if  
I went back to work tomorrow it wouldn't  
be a problem. I can earn  
extra credits through work  
experience, and the Dean will be happy to hear I'm returning  
to  
work. That was one of the reasons the scholarship  
committee awarded the scholarship to me. They want to  
attract more mature age students, and I'm gonna be an  
example to other's that it's possible to mix work and  
studies."  
        "I see."  
        "And I am not going  
to quit again.. I'm in for the long  
haul now."  
        "Really."          
        "Did I say  
something wrong??? I thought you would be  
thrilled to hear that."  
        "Would you mind  
telling me when you sorted out the  
matter of your studies? I was  
under the impression that you  
haven't been back to Canada, that you were undercover until  
last week," she said coldly.  
        "Er..I finished  
a few weeks ago..And wouldn't you know  
it the day I get back Maria's  
kids started that fire, and it  
was off to the hospital.."  
        "I know you're lying  
to me."  
        "Er..."  
        "I'm still  
trying to work out why?"  
        "Er..."  
        "And how much  
of what I've been told is a lie."  
        "Er.."  
        The sound of Frannie  
clearing her throat loudly made  
Ray look around.  
        "You have a visitor,"  
she announced.  
        "Who  
is it?" Ray asked uncurling grateful for the  
temporary reprieve.  
        "Lieutenant Welsh."  
          
                        *~~~~~~~~~~*=@=*~~~~~~~~~~*  
          
        Ray joined Welsh on the  
porch, noticing the envelopes  
tucked under his arm.  
        "So how did it go?"  
        "He wants you  
to return to duty ASAP. Meaning  
tomorrow."  
        "But Sir, I only  
just got out of the hospital  
yesterday, I still need extensive work  
on my arm, I'm not  
fit to return to work yet."  
        "You're as fit as  
you'll ever be.. In that regard."  
        "Oh  
well I was going to resign any way."  
        "You  
haven't heard what the deal is.. You don't have  
the qualifications,  
a police psychologist needs, and you're  
not an accredited profiler either.. Yet you're damned good  
at profiling and have some form of psychology certification,  
don't  
you?"  
        Ray nodded.  
        "It would be a shame  
to waste it, and then there's the  
fact that you are a detective,  
first and foremost, not a  
psychologist or profiler .. So.. after much discussion, he  
agreed to an official experiment, to be run through the  
precinct, the post of Psych officer we hashed out what your  
duties would be and there's far less emphasis on the  
Psychology and more emphasis on real police work."  
        "Oh.."  
        "Now, I told the  
commissioner about your studies and  
that we had to come to some  
arrangement that would allow you  
to continue your studies and work.  
He's willing to give you  
six months to prove you be an asset as a Psych officer on a  
part time basis.. with one or two strings."  
        "That's great news..  
What are the strings?"  
        "If  
you want to work from home, you have to have a  
separate office."          
        "Can do.. We're  
moving to a new place as soon as the  
paper work is settled and the  
painter's have been in to  
change the god awful colour scheme there. It has the perfect  
office,  
with a separate lockable File room."  
        "It has to be secure."  
        "It is."  
        "I'll have  
to inspect it and make that judgement for  
myself. "Now.. We've  
got the matter of the expenses of  
setting things up," Welsh pulled out one of the envelopes  
and  
held it out.  
        "That's all the  
paper work you'll have to fill out. You  
can requisition whatever  
you need to set up your office, but  
you have to be able to justify  
every expense and you better  
keep good records.."  
        "As far as wage's  
go, for the trail period it will be  
something between what you got  
before the accident, and what  
an accredited Profiler earns. If after  
the trial period is  
over he decides you were worth the expense, you're wage will  
freeze  
until you get your diploma and accreditation. Think  
of it as incentive to continue your studies and get  
accreditation for your profiling studies.."  
        Ray smiled faintly.  
        "I've been doing  
the advanced course, which meant I had  
to study harder to finish  
my studies in half the time. Right  
now, I'm studying full time via  
correspondence but it was  
really taking it's toll on me when I had to factor in my  
duties as Fraser's primary carer when he needed a minder  
around the clock. I was going to talk to the Dean about  
switching to part time.."  
        "You can continue  
to study full time for at least the  
next six months.."  
        "That will depend  
on my work load."  
        "You  
have to put in at least four hours a day at the  
station, and be  
on call after that," Welsh said holding out  
an envelope, "This  
outlines the whole deal, there are also  
forms that have to be lodged..  
I know you can't do paperwork  
right now so I filled it in for you,  
all you have to do is  
sign it if you agree to the terms and duties and get it back  
to  
me by Friday."  
        Ray nodded.  
        Welsh held out one of  
the thick file envelopes.  
        "Now,  
this is a case the Commissioner would like you to  
take. A double  
murder investigation that's going no where.  
It's not in our district, all the leg works been done, he  
just wants to see wether or not it's worth going to the  
effort of creating a new position. Consider it your make or  
break case.. He can still pull the rug out from under you at  
any  
time.. But if you can get somewhere on that where  
they've failed.. That Rug will be secure for the next 6  
months."  
        Ray nodded.  
        "I understand."  
        "Good.. Now  
this is what you asked for," Welsh said  
handing over the last  
envelope.  
        "Everything I could  
get on Dante McIntire."  
        "Great."  
        "By the way,  
you're going to have to get new I.D  
photo's."  
        Ray nodded and held up  
his hands.  
        "And  
get my prints done again."  
        Welsh  
looked at his hands.  
        "Half  
my prints are gone."  
        Welsh  
carefully took hold of Ray's arm and made him  
hold his hand up where  
he could see it in the light.  
        "So they are."  
        "And if you  
think that's bad, you should see my other  
hand," Ray said with  
a little shudder. "I lost everything,  
palm and finger prints..  
Only one finger came out unscathed  
and I'm going to be undergoing more grafts on that hand."  
        "I  
thought the grafting was over."  
        "So  
did I.. But, I got an infection in the grafts, they  
were stripped  
back.. and I gotta wait for a new batch of  
skin to be cloned before I get the new grafts."  
        "Ah. That was what  
your sister was talking about."  
        "Don't  
go anywhere I had something I wanted to give to  
you but didn't get  
a chance to."  
        He spun and dashed back  
into the house finding his  
coat, fetching the cheque and then finding  
the fit he'd  
brought. He returned to the porch to hand the cheque to  
Welsh.  
        "Thanks for the  
offer, but I don't need the loan now."  
        "You  
don't? You're not going to sell the house to pay  
your bills are  
you, your sister.."  
        "Everything has  
been settled.. I got compensation for  
what happened to my arm."  
        "Ah."  
        Ray held out the gift.  
        "And I got  
you something to say thank you for  
everything you did for me."  
        "You didn't have  
to do that," Welsh said taking the  
gift anyway.  
        "You didn't have  
to offer me that loan either."  
        "Did  
I mention that the arrest rate around the district  
has dropped since  
we lost the team of the Vecchio and  
Fraser."  
        Ray smiled faintly.  
        "No."  
        "Well it has. We  
don't want to loose the best team  
we've had in a long time."  
        Ray looked through the  
doorway, then back to Welsh.  
        "Benni's  
still got a long way to go before he can take  
up where he left off."  
        "I gathered that  
when we talked last. But you've found  
a new way to continue your  
work, a way that attracted the  
attention of the Commissioner and the local branch Director  
of the FBI."  
        "Didn't you say  
something about them ignoring a warning  
about Dante."  
        "Yes. I did."  
        "Well whatever  
it was that he wants he can.."  
        "Go  
to hell?"  
        "Exactly."  
        "That's what  
I told him."  
        Ray  
grinned.  
        "I  
bet that went down like a lead balloon."  
        "I  
also told him he could expect to face a lot of  
resistance from my  
people towards assisting his people,  
unless or until you receive a personal and public apology  
for that piece of stupidity."  
        "A public apology?"  
        "Public as  
in front of everyone at the precinct."  
        "Well,  
I hope that didn't get you in any trouble."  
        "I  
did it in front of the Commissioner, and explained  
my reasons afterwoulds.  
He said if I could prove they got  
the warning *before* Dante's plane landed, or before that  
parcel was mailed, he'd demand an investigation into the  
whole mess."  
        "Can you prove it?"  
        Welsh gave a faint  
shrug.  
        "All  
I've got at this stage is the word of one of the  
Australian Fed's..  
An Officer Mandaway."  
        "He's the one who  
helped me out, in Australia, he's in  
charge of the whole case..His  
word should be good enough. He  
knows that Dante made threats against  
me, Benni told him  
everything before.. he lost it completely. And I do mean  
everything. I think.. He just wanted to curl up and die at  
that stage, and held out long enough to make damn sure Dante  
didn't  
get a chance to carry out his threats."  
        "Do you know what  
Dante threatened to do, or was it  
just a general threat?"  
        "He knew I was there..  
He must have seen me.. I didn't  
understand how he knew.. It's not  
as if we ever met.. Now I  
know he saw me with Benni in the Riv the day he carved up  
the paintwork."  
        "But what did he  
threaten to do."  
        "For  
starters..." Ray glanced at the open door way, and  
took a side  
step away. "Carrying out the threat he carved  
into my car.  
If he ever saw me around Benni again."  
        "Which he did. What  
else did he threaten to do?"  
        "The  
usual.."  
        "You  
remember how you told me all but one of his  
victims died slow and  
terrible deaths.."  
        Welsh nodded slowly.  
        "And you remember  
how the exception died."  
        Welsh  
nodded.  
        "That's  
pretty much what he threatened to do to me."  
        "I  
have the feeling there was more to it."  
        Ray  
sighed.  
        "There is."  
        "Most of it  
could probably be taken for ranting in the  
heat of the moment.."  
        "What else.."  
        "I would rather  
not.."  
        "Did  
he threaten to hurt members of your family too."  
        "My  
mother," Ray said in a low voice, "He knows what  
she looks  
like.. He met her once.. When she was trying to be  
helpful. I didn't  
think anything of it.. Not at the time.. I  
thought they'd catch  
him.. That he wouldn't be able to carry  
out any of his threats.."  
        "Now you know better."  
        "I'm doing  
what I can, I brought a new place, a real  
urban fortress, near the  
hospital."  
        "The old medical  
center."  
        "You  
know the place."  
        "That's  
the only "urban fortress" near the hospital I  
can think  
of that would be up for sale. It's been up for  
sale for years. No one seemed interested in buying it."  
        "Yeah  
well.. There were things wrong with the place  
that the owner spent  
years trying to rectify. I got lucky, I  
got it after all the major  
problems had been rectified.. The  
security on that place is great,"  
Ray said, fishing the  
key's from his pocket and holding them out.  
        "You can check it  
out for yourself if you like. And  
inspect the office there while  
your at it"  
        After a moment Welsh  
took the keys, nodding, and tucked  
them into his pocket and pointed  
across the way.  
        "You may or not  
appreciate the fact that you're place  
has been under around the  
clock surveillance ever since you  
received that packet."  
        Ray's eyes widened as  
he looked around and recognised  
the car across the way. Welsh gave  
a signal and the door  
opened, and Huey stepped out of the car and leaned on the  
door.  
        "Huey, Dewey, Rawlings  
and Davis have been taking it in  
shifts."  
        Ray made emphatic gestures  
to Huey and the dark  
detective shut up the car and headed across  
the street.  
        "Is that .. official  
or.. voluntary."  
        "Both..  
The moment he mailed that parcel to you he  
earned our attention.  
We won't give him a chance to finish  
what he started if he comes back for you."  
        "That's nice to  
know sir."  
        "In  
light of his activities in Canada, this has been  
given the official  
green light. If we get official word that  
he's crossed the border,  
our presence will be greater."  
        "That's  
good to know sir. I take it they've been making  
sure all the mail  
and parcels that arrive here is clean."  
        Welsh  
smiled very faintly and nodded as Huey arrived  
climbing up the stairs.  
        "You fraud.. You  
coulda told me what was going on when  
I was at the precinct this  
afternoon," Ray said poking him a  
few times for good measure.  
        "He was under orders,  
to be discrete."  
        "Uh-hu..  
Well, you can scuttle back to the car and try  
to be a little more  
discrete in a minute. There is going to  
be a large number of parcels arriving tonight. I know where  
each and everyone is coming from and who every person  
delivering them will be, so you don't need to pounce on  
anyone. Unless you see a muscle bound Adonis walking up with  
a parcel  
in brown paper. I asked for everything to be  
delivered gift wrapped."  
        "Got it."  
        "Good, now scat  
before someone notices you hear and  
starts asking awkward questions."  
        "Too late,"  
Meg said.  
        The trio  
jumped and looked around to see the hugely  
pregnant inspector leaning  
on the door frame, a frame to her  
belly.  
        "Oh dear,"  
the trio chorused.  
        "Please  
tell me the babies have decided it's time to  
come into the world,  
Caro."  
        She gave him a positively  
evil smile, then winced  
rubbing at her stomach.  
        "You wish."  
        "I'm dead,  
aren't I?"  
        "Well  
you've got three options."  
        "Oh,  
what are they?"  
        She  
started ticking off on her fingers.  
        "Start  
talking, and make it good, studmuffin."  
        Welsh  
and Huey snickered at that.  
        "That  
does it, I'm getting the buzz cut back."  
        "Don't  
even think of it."  
        "What  
are the other options?"  
        "Start  
running."  
        "Uh-hu,  
and what's the last option."  
        "Do  
you remember what we were discussing earlier."  
        "Alright,  
you can hire an interior designer."          
        She rolled her eyes.  
        "Not *that*  
discussion, the *other* discussion."  
        He  
thought about it for a while.  
        "Right  
*now*."  
        "Uh-hu."  
        "The car is  
still loaded with book's and things."  
        She  
stuck two finger's in her mouth and let out an ear  
piercing whistle  
that made the trio of men cover their ears.  
In short order Fraser  
appeared at Meg's side.  
        "You called."  
        "Keys,"  
Meg said holding out her hand.  
        Ray  
passed the keys to the Riv over. She slapped them  
into Fraser's  
hand.  
        "Empty out the Riv  
and carry everything inside."  
        "Where  
should I put it's contents?"  
        "On  
Raymond's bed, he won't be using it tonight."  
        Fraser  
bounded out to obey her biding.  
        "Aaaalrighty..Let's  
just say I agree to do that.  
Megatron, You gotta agree to let this  
whole thing drop and  
trust me."  
        "If you make it  
worth my while, *Caro*, she said,  
before she waddled off.  
        "Uh-hu.. Can I borrow  
a phone?"  
        Welsh  
and Huey pulled out their Cel phones offering  
them to Ray. Ray reached  
out and hit a button on Welsh's  
then racked his memory and dialled the number of the Drake  
and took the phone, waiting for confirmation he got it  
right.  
        "Oh, Hello, I was  
wondering if I can get a suite at  
your hotel at short notice.. Right  
away if possible.. I can,  
good, I'd like the honeymoon suite, if  
that's possible. It  
is, wonderful. Excuse me, one moment."  
        He covered the mouth  
piece looking around.          
        "Fraser, there's  
a Gold dress box in the trunk with a  
red ribbon around it, with  
Frannie's name on it, and another  
one with Meg's name on it, take  
them in first. Make sure  
they get the right box too, hmm. Oh, there will be half a  
dozen blue boxes, with Red and Blue ribbons around them. You  
can  
take everything else out.. But leave those there."  
        "Yes, Ray."  
        Ray returned to  
his call.  
        "Yes,  
I'm back, what was that.. Champagne, no.. Alcohol  
is a no-no..   
Chocolates.. Yes, Alcohol no... Oh, that  
sounds fine.. Thank-you.. You have a complimentary pick up  
don't you.. Oh, Good.."  
        Ray made arrangements  
for a car to come around and pick  
up a party of two within the hour."  
        He signed off and handed  
the phone back to Welsh.  
        "Which  
Hotel??"  
        "The  
Drake."  
        Welsh  
rang the station and called for another team to  
take up watching  
the house.  
  
                *~~~~~~~~~~*ooOO0=@=0OOoo*~~~~~~~~~~*  
  
                                Part  
Eighteen  
  
                        *~~~~~~~~~~*=@=*~~~~~~~~~~*  
  
        After Welsh departed  
to check out Ray's new place, Huey  
helped Fraser empty out Ray's  
car.  
        "Did you have to  
buy out the store," Huey grumbled as  
he moved past Ray with  
a large stack of thick books.  
        "I need every one  
of those books for my studies."  
        "No  
student needs that many books."  
        "Wrong,  
the rest of my class mates can just take a  
short stroll to the library  
after class to pick up the books  
on the recommended reading list.  
I'd probably have sent  
Frannie out to do it for me, only my coach said never borrow  
a reference  
book when you can buy it, you never know when  
you might need to refer to it again."  
        "I'm sure he didn't  
say buy out the shop."  
        "You  
haven't see the list of books he recommended that  
I buy.. There  
are over 500 titles on it. I'm still trying to  
find half of them."  
        The books were stacked  
beside the staircase and Huey  
went back out to the car for more  
while Fraser carried  
another stack into the car.  
        "I see you are replacing  
your books," Fraser said,  
while Meg came down the stairs, unnoticed.  
        "*Replacing*.."  
        "Yes..Isn't  
that why you brought all these books to  
replace the ones that were  
burned.."  
        "*Burned!* My reference  
collection was *burned!*"  
        Fraser  
stacked the books beside the stack Huey had  
brought in, then faced  
Ray.  
        "Didn't Meg tell  
you? I thought that was why you  
brought so many books."  
        "My books were burned.."  
        "Yes.. When  
Dante broke into the house and trashed it..  
He started a fire in  
the library.. Didn't Meg tell you?"  
        Ray  
closed his eyes, deep breathing and counting to one  
hundred.          
        "Fraser.. Get the  
rest of the books," Meg said from the  
landing.  
        Fraser looked around  
and did a double take then smiled.  
        "You  
look ... stunning in that dress."  
        "Thank-you,  
now go and get the books.. Before Raymond  
explodes."  
        Fraser nodded and hurried  
out. Ray turned and looked  
around and lost count, Fraser was right,  
the Red Velveteen  
dress with it's empire styling looked stunning on Meg. She  
raised her hand, the hoop from it's trailing train around  
her rest, showing a flash of leg and matching red slippers  
as she descended the final flight of stairs with what  
appeared to be more grace than she'd waddled up them with.  
        Ray watched her descend  
then spun around and marched  
out the door.  
        "Fraser! Remember  
what I said about those blue parcels  
in the trunk.. Forget what  
I said, bring them in."  
        "Did you get me  
something else to wear."  
        He  
turned to find her behind him and took her hand  
making a little  
bow over it before he kissed it.  
        "Fraser was wrong,  
stunning isn't the word for how  
Ravishing you look in that dress."  
        She smiled.  
        "The parcels I'm  
talking about are some new suits for  
Fraser and I that I brought  
after I got that dress, from a  
shop that seems to work on the "dress to match your partner"  
principle and stocks suits to match the dresses of the  
designer ladies shop across the way."  
        "So you brought  
a suit to match my dress."  
        "Suits.  
One for me One for him. Well actually it was  
more like half a dozen..  
But the rest are being delivered  
later tonight."  
        Huey gave a little cough  
from behind and they moved out  
of the door way. Huey gave Meg the  
once over, twice as he  
passed through the door.  
        "I don't suppose  
that dress comes in other colours."  
        "Actually  
it comes in 6 different colours," Ray said  
reeling off the  
list."  
        "Great, I couldn't  
get you to pick up a shimmering gold  
could I.. I think it would  
make a great gift for mother's  
day. Just let me know what it costs and.."  
        "Forget it.. I still  
owe you one.. I'll get the dress  
and we'll consider it even."  
        "Deal."  
        Fraser came back, arms  
loaded with books, followed by  
the Doctor, Paul, who was just as  
loaded down.  
        "I see you didn't  
waste any time spending that money,"  
Paul commented.  
        Ray gave him a smile.  
        "I got lucky,  
the house I had my eye on cost me less  
than I budgeted for."  
        "And if what's in  
your car is anything to go by, you  
celebrated by going on a spending  
spree."  
        Ray grinned nodding.  
        "Nice hair  
cut by the way, it suits you."  
        Meg  
reached up to twine a finger in one of Ray's curls.  
        "I  
thought so too."  
        "I  
take it this stunning creature is your lady."  
        Huey  
took the books from Paul and added them to the  
pile, while Ray introduced  
them.          
        "You  
guess right. Meg I'd like you to meet Paul Conti,  
My Cosmetic surgeon,  
and future Brother in Law."  
        "A pleasure to met  
you," Paul said, taking her extended  
hand to plant a kiss on  
it.  
        Ray gave him a mock glare.  
        "Is Francesca  
ready?"  
        Ray  
looked at the stair case and smiled.  
        "I  
don't know, you tell me," he said and pointed.  
        Paul  
turned and his jaw hit the floor as Francesca  
gracefully descended  
the stair case, her curls piled on top  
of her hair in an artful array of ringlets, emerald drop  
earings brushing her neck, the matching necklace around her  
bare throat glimmering in the light, that also set her  
matching bracelet a glimmer. The set not only highlighted  
her flawlessly made up eyes, but the deep emerald colouring  
of the shimmering medieval style velvet and silk dress with  
a plunging neck line and long slashed sleeves that she wore.  
Even  
her slippers matched.  
        Paul moved to the foot  
of the stair case to take her  
hand and place a lingering kiss on  
it.  
        "I am going to be  
the envy of every man in the place  
tonight."  
        She gave him a radiant  
smile and looped her arm through  
his.  
        "And here I was  
thinking how I'd be the envy of every  
woman."  
        "Didn't I tell you  
he was smitten," Ray said in a  
hushed aside to Meg.  
        The lovebirds headed  
out the door billing and cooing at  
each other while Huey gaped.  
Ray laughed at the look at his  
face.  
        "I hate to say it  
Ray, but I wouldn't start planning  
your sister's wedding just yet."  
        "And why not.. The  
man is positively smitten with  
Frannie."  
        "He is just the  
most eligible bachelor in town,  
something you forget to mention,  
when you were telling us  
about him."  
        "Well, he may have  
been eligible, but he's not any  
more. He's Frannie's man now.  
        "Not for long, every  
socialite in the state is throwing  
herself, or her daughter at him,  
he's neck deep in gorgeous  
women."  
        "Are you insinuating  
that my sister can't be included  
in that category."  
        "No, but she's way  
out of his class."  
        "That's  
where you're wrong. He asked me, as the head of  
the family, for  
permission to pay court to Frannie, he fully  
intends to make her  
Mrs Conti in the near future. And I  
don't care if it costs me the rest of the money I got to  
turn our cygnet into a swan, nobody but nobody is going to  
be asking *why* he picked Frannie."  
        Meg kissed his cheek,  
wrapping her arm around his  
waist. With a wince he raised his arm  
to wrap it around her.  
        "Am  
I to take it, you don't object?"  
        "If  
that's what you'd do for your sister, I can tell  
that Francesca  
Jnr is going to be spoiled to death."  
        Ray smiled laying his  
hand on her belly.  
        "Along  
with her mother.."  
        Huey  
decided it was a good time to get another load of  
books from the  
car and Ray kicked the door closed behind  
him, and stretched out a hand to Fraser who was watching  
them. With a smile Fraser joined them and a group cuddle  
ensued.  
        "I bet you thought  
I forget about you."  
        "I  
understand."  
        "Good,  
then you won't be offended if I tell you that we  
have to take separate  
cars to the hotel.. and arrive at  
different times."  
        "Are we going to  
a hotel?"  
        "Mhmmm..  
Do you remember what I planned to do before I  
went away."  
        Fraser nodded.  
        "Well,  
I plan to go through with that plan, tonight,  
where we don't have  
to worry about anyone finding out we're  
a threesome."  
        Fraser smiled. Ray nuzzled  
Meg's ear.  
        "That  
ought to show Meg we still think she's beautiful  
even if she does  
have a passing resemblance to a beached  
whale."  
        She swatted him and Fraser  
laughed.  
        "Grab  
those parcels, the one with the Red ribbon is for  
you."  
        Fraser lit up.  
        "You  
got me a present too."  
        "Well  
of course I did, it's a new suit. The moment I  
set eyes on it, I  
thought of you.. Now shoo.. Go and get it.  
The taxi I booked to  
take you to the hotel will be arriving  
soon and I want to see you in that suit before it gets  
here."  
        Fraser shooed, leaving  
Meg alone with Ray.  
        "Now,  
let's talk about who's been keeping secrets from  
whom. Shall we."  
        She blushed faintly.  
        "When did you  
intend to tell me what happened to my  
book collection?"  
        "I was hoping I'd  
get a chance to replace all the books  
first."  
        "It took me over  
a year, and at least two and a half  
thousand dollars to amass that  
collection."  
        "I had insurance,  
and don't worry, for lack of anything  
better to do one day, I went  
through your collection with  
Fraser's help and listed all your books plus their value on  
your computer. That thief didn't touch any of the files..  
Your catalogue is still intact. We can replace everything."  
        "Why do I have the  
feeling that *everything* mean's  
almost literally that."  
        She gave a little sigh.  
        "It means everything  
he left behind."  
        He  
stepped away growing agitated.  
        "Why  
didn't you tell me?! I would have dropped  
everything and flown out  
as soon as.."  
        "I *know*,"  
she said in a meaningful tone of voice  
cutting in on his diatribe  
before he had a chance to really  
get going.  
        "Know *what*?"  
He asked hoping it wasn't what he  
thought.  
        "About the real  
reason you started consulting that  
doctor. You were *undercover*  
in the sense that you were  
covered in bandages, after he sent you an acid bomb through  
the post."  
        He drew in a deep breath,  
closing his eyes.  
        "How  
did you find out."  
        "I  
know about McIntire too.. I *am* a Mountie,  
remember. Ever since  
your Lieutenant notified us that he  
crossed the border using Fraser's I.D we've been tracking  
his path of death and destruction across the country."  
        "Does Fraser know?"  
        She nodded with  
a sigh.  
        "He  
doesn't know what happened to you.. But he does  
know Dante got out  
of Australia and returned to Canada to  
start his campaign of death and destruction. They came and  
interrogated him, to try and work out who would be next when  
they  
realised he was killing people who were connected to  
him in some way. They came back three times before he told  
them anything useful."  
        "That's why he started  
backsliding. They wouldn't let  
it drop till he gave them what they  
wanted."  
        She nodded.  
        "And what he gave  
them was the names of all the men Mc  
Intire's killed so far.. He  
had the worst night terrors of  
all during that period and started becoming obsessed with  
cleanliness, personal cleanliness. We had to keep dragging  
him out of the shower.. He was scrubbing himself raw.."  
        "That's  
why she said he should be sent to a psychiatric  
hospital.. he started  
losing it again."  
        She nodded.  
        "If you knew.. The  
story about me being undercover was  
just a lie.. Why didn't you.."  
        "You were still  
hospitalised when he was going through  
the worst of it, what did  
you expect me to do, drag you out  
of your hospital bed to tend to him?"  
        "How did you cure  
him of his obsession with personal  
cleanliness?"  
        "I poured over your  
books and notes and tried  
everything they suggested when a patient  
developed the  
obsessions he was displaying.. I broke him of the worst of  
his habits.. But nothing I've done stops him from obsessing  
about the cleanliness of his surroundings.. it's as if he  
transferred his.. obsession with personal cleanliness to an  
obsession with his environment being as clean and orderly as  
he  
can get it. He actually started improving when I gave up  
trying to stop him.."  
        Ray thought about that.  
        "Being able  
to control the order of his environment  
give's back something Dante  
took away from him.. Control of  
his life.. He lost that and he's trying to get it back by  
controlling his environment.. He's telling us he wants  
control back.. That he still feels unclean, that's why he  
goes on cleaning frenzies. Instead of scrubbing himself raw,  
which  
doesn't work, he cleans his surroundings.. He can get  
those clean.."  
        "It's not going  
to be easy to break him of that habit  
is it?"  
        "It's going to take  
a while, but it won't be  
impossible. Have you noticed any difference  
in his behaviour  
today?"  
        She raised a brow, a  
thoughtful look on her face and  
nodded slowly.  
        "Yes.."  
        "Good.. I had a  
long talk with him last night. He isn't  
going to give me a fight..  
he's ready and willing to accept  
my help.. It's almost frightening the amount of trust he has  
in  
me."  
        "You gave him good  
reason to place that trust in him."          
        "I'm amazed  
that he could extend it to me in the first  
place.. He used to put  
his faith in Dante and look what it  
got him."  
        "You're not Dante..  
You couldn't be more dissimilar if  
you tried. He knows you know  
what it feels like to be  
trapped in an abusive relationship, you told him all about  
your father."  
        "Eavesdropper."  
        She smiled faintly  
and sadly.  
        "I  
didn't have to eavesdrop on your conversations with  
him to learn  
about your father.. You were quite vocal in  
your sleep about it on more than one occasion."  
        He blushed, deeply.  
        "You proved all  
the statistic's about the children of  
abusive parents wrong.. And  
proved your father wrong too..  
And he is putting the lessons you taught him, to rebuild his  
shattered  
life to work."  
        "He is?"  
        She nodded.  
        "I didn't pull him  
out of the despair when he slid  
back.. He clawed his own way out  
of it. And I think you'd be  
pleasantly surprised to find out just  
how much he's improved  
in some area's."  
        "Did you keep records  
for me?"  
        "Of  
course, studmuffin," she said winding one of his  
curls around  
her finger.  
        "If you keep calling  
me that, I'm gonna get another  
buzz cut."  
        "It's a compliment,"  
she said moving in for the kill.  
        "You  
left, looking like a good stiff breeze would blow  
you away, even  
before you left, I worried myself sick about  
you.. Which is why I sent you away.. I couldn't send Fraser  
away, and I knew that if I didn't act, soon.. I'd lose you  
and the babies," she said reaching out to pop a button while  
she started nuzzling at his neck.  
        "I thought, the  
best place you could be at that time  
was with your family, that  
they'd cluck over you and make  
sure you got yourself back on track."  
        Her hand slipped under  
his shirt and started wandering  
and he arched his throat to her.  
        "I was kept in the  
dark about what happened to you  
until they knew for sure that you  
would pull through it.. I  
know what happened. How serious it was, and I know why you  
asked your superior to lie to me.. But there's no need for  
the charade any more.. I let Fraser cluck to his hearts  
content, and nag me into taking better care of myself, so  
the reason you lied in the first place would become a moot  
point."  
        "I didn't want..  
you to lose the babies.."          
        Her wandering hand  
passed over his chest and her  
fingers began to toy with a nipple  
which sprang to attention  
along with another part of his anatomy.  
        "That is what made  
all the effort worth while. You care  
what happens, to them, and  
me, even though you don't believe  
they're yours."  
        "They're not."  
        "They are,  
but I'm not going to argue the point, we can  
settle the issue after  
they're born with a paternity test.  
Which will prove that rather than sterile you're a virile  
studmuffin."          
        "If you keep calling  
me that.."  
        "It's  
what you are.. The last thing I expected was the  
scrumptious man  
who walked through that door last night,"  
she continued nuzzling  
at his ear.  
        "I'm going to be  
beating the competition off with a  
stick now."  
        "Flattery will get  
you everywhere and if you don't stop  
what you're doing right now..."  
        "You'll do what?  
Ravish me right here. Go right ahead."  
        The  
sound of Fraser clearing his throat broke in and  
they both looked  
around. Ray smiled and Meg laughed.  
        "Is this a company  
meeting or a party?"  
        Ray  
chuckled at that.  
        "There's  
nothing wrong with his memory."  
        She  
swatted him.  
        "You  
look good, Benni."  
        Fraser  
tugged at the form fitting red coat he wore over  
black pants with  
a yellow braid down the legs, and tweaked  
at the collar of the black satin shirt he wore under the  
coat.  
        "It's a little tight."  
        "Well, you  
won't be wearing it for long, so that  
doesn't matter, does it,"  
Ray said as he slipped out of  
Meg's clutches and approached Fraser  
to reach up and open  
the collar one handed and tweaked it up, so the stiff collar  
stood  
up.  
        "There, now it's  
not choking you."  
        "One  
of us is under dressed."  
        "You  
wish," Ray said looking at Meg over his shoulder  
as he wrapped  
his hand around Fraser's arm.  
        "But I can take  
a hint, come and help me get into my  
suit."  
  
                        *~~~~~~~~~~*=@=*~~~~~~~~~~*  
  
        Huey did a double take  
as he turned away from the car,  
to see the trio on the porch. Ray's  
choice of personal  
apparel was a pair of pants that matched Fraser's a black  
satin shirt of the same cut, only a few size's bigger and  
baggier. His red over coat was the epitomine of style,  
though it too was at least two size's bigger than it should  
have been, but the reason for that was obviously the brace  
he wore.  
        Huey kicked the car door  
shut behind him, juggling the  
last stack of books as he approached  
the porch and ascended  
the stairs.  
        "They're going to  
see you coming from a mile away."  
        "If  
you think these are bright, wait till you see the  
other coat's I  
got."  
        With a loud blare of  
the horn, the cab driver announced  
his arrival, and Huey looked  
around.  
        "This is the last  
load, I'll just put it away and.."  
        "No  
hurry, Huey."  
        Huey  
turned and hurried into the house, while Ray  
descended from the  
porch with Fraser on his heels. He leaned  
toward the driver pulling  
out a 50 and handed it to him.  
        "Take him to the  
Drake," he instructed the cabbie,  
before he moved to the back  
window which Fraser wound down.  
        "We'll meet you  
in the lobby."  
        Fraser  
nodded and the driver pulled out driving away as  
Huey returned to  
the porch looking around. A van pulled up  
in front of Ray and he stepped back as the door opened and  
the driver climbed out clip board in hand and pulled a  
parcel out from the front seat. Huey moved in as the driver  
looked Ray over.  
        "Let me guess, the  
bandages finally came off Mr  
Vecchio."  
        Ray grinned and nodded  
accepting the clip board as it  
was offered to him.  
        "You're looking  
good."  
        "Thanks.  
You timed it just right, Sam, I was about to  
leave for a night on  
the town," he said as he clumsily  
signed for his parcel.  
        Huey tried to intercept  
it, but Ray took the parcel  
hugging it to his chest.  
        "It's just my latest  
correspondence package, Jack," he  
said, pointing to the address  
label in the corner as Sam the  
delivery man climbed back into his  
truck.  
        "See. The only way  
the contents of this would kill me  
would be through sheer boredom  
as I wade through some of the  
most boring texts you never read."  
        Huey backed off, taking  
his word for it.  
        "It  
never hurts to be cautious."  
        Ray  
headed back to the house carrying his parcel, with  
Huey on his heels.  
        "There's cautious  
and there's paranoid Huey. Cautious  
is treating any unexpected package  
with extreme care,  
Paranoid is treating every parcel that arrives, even when  
your expecting one, as if it could be another nasty surprise  
package."  
        Ray was at the door when  
the Drake's courtesy car  
pulled up.  
        "I think your car's  
here."  
        Ray  
looked around, then tossed the parcel through the  
door, pulling  
it closed as he turned. He stepped away  
reaching for Meg.  
        "Where's Fras.."  
        Neither Ray's action,  
or Huey's question was completed  
as an explosion shook the porch  
and the door was blasted  
outward accompanied by a huge ball of flame. Huey flew  
backwards, as Ray went flying, and Meg, the furthest from  
the door, was almost thrown off her feet. As Ray went flying  
past,  
her arms flew out to catch hold of the porch post and  
clung to it for dear life to avoid being sent flying.  
        As Ray and Huey hit the  
front lawn, the courtesy car  
door flew open and the driver jumped  
out, to race across the  
lawn. Meg looked back wide eyed to see the  
huge smoking hole  
that was the door way, splintered, smouldering  
wood, Ray's  
new collection of books scattered everywhere in flames and  
the ceiling caving in over the entry way.  
          
                *~~~~~~~~~~*ooOO0=@=0OOoo*~~~~~~~~~~*  
  
                                Part  
Ninteen  
  
                        *~~~~~~~~~~*=@=*~~~~~~~~~~*  
  
        The last thing Welsh  
expected when he returned to Ray's  
place was to find the fire department  
putting out a fire,  
along with the paramedics and ambulences. Pushing his way  
through the crowd of gawpers Welsh found Huey sitting on a  
trolley, his torso wrapped in bandages, watching the firemen  
work  
to put the fire out.  
        "What happened?"  
        "Another parcel  
bomb, the explosive kind this time."  
        "You  
were suppoused to intercept any parcels."  
        "He  
got to it first."  
        Welsh  
looked around at the house.  
        "He's  
fine.. He didn't open it, he tossed it inside. It  
must have gone  
off when it landed."          
        "Where is he?"  
        "He and Thatcher  
are on their way to the hospital."  
        "Is  
she.."  
        "She's  
fine, but the shock sent her into premature  
labour."  
        "What's his condition?"  
        "He's a little  
dazed, singed, bruised and in full panic  
mode about the babies.  
Beyond that, he's fine."  
        "Fraser?"  
        "I lost him.. They  
sent him somewhere in a taxi while I  
was distracted.."  
        "What about Mrs  
Vecchio and Francesca?"  
        "Frannie's  
going to be in for one hell of a shock when  
her date brings her  
home. And you'd have to ask Dewey where  
Mrs Vecchio is, she left the house before I took over."  
        A  
paramedic approached.  
        "What's  
his condition?" Welsh demanded.  
        "Mainly  
bruises, though he may have cracked a rib, we  
want to take him to  
the hospital for X-Rays."  
        "Do that,"  
Welsh said.  
          
                        *~~~~~~~~~~*=@=*~~~~~~~~~~*  
  
        A phone call to the Drake  
resulted in Fraser arriving  
at the hospital. Welsh escorted Mrs  
Vecchio to the hospital  
after he finally tracked her down. While Welsh was checking  
up on Huey's condition, Mrs Vecchio caught sight of Fraser  
trying to find out where Ray and Meg were and lead him  
through the corridors to the natal ward.  
        Fraser went into mother  
hen mode, rushing to Ray's side  
to cluck when he saw Ray standing  
before the huge  
observation window in his singed and filthy coat.  
        "Stop clucking,  
I'm fine.. Look.. Meg had the babies."  
        Fraser  
looked around.  
        "Which  
ones?"  
        "Over  
there.. In the incubators the nurse is checking  
out."  
        "Are they alright?  
They weren't due for another.."  
        "They're  
fine.. They're perfect.. They're an instant  
family, she had triplets."  
        "What?!"  
        "That's what we  
said, after the Doctor delivered the  
first two and said, there's  
another one here.. The doctor  
said the third one must have been masked. That's why it  
didn't show up in the ultrasounds."  
        "So what are they?"  
        "We have a  
Francesca, a Gregory and an I don't know  
yet."  
        "What do you mean  
an.."  
        "It's  
another boy," Mrs Vecchio said.  
        "Ah.."  
        "We weren't  
expecting another baby, we don't have a  
name for him yet."  
        Huey wandered into the  
corridor, with Welsh.  
        "How  
are they?" Huey asked as he approached.  
        Ray  
looked around, smiling.  
        "They're  
fine, she had triplets, can you beleive that?"  
        "Damn.."  
        "What?"  
        "Never mind..  
Congratulations."  
        "I  
thought you were expecting twins," Welsh said.  
        "We  
were.. The third one gave everyone a surprise. He  
was hiding behind  
the other two, Ray said and pointed out  
the triplets incubators.  
        "So what did she  
have??"  
        "Two  
boys and a girl. By the way.. If you're going to  
tear strips of  
Jack about that bomb, don't..  
        "You're too late..  
He already reamed me out for it."  
        "It  
wasn't his fault, sir. I stopped him from  
intercepting it. I thought  
it was my latest correspondence  
package, it was delivered by the same guy who delivered all  
the rest.. It had all the right stamps and labels.. I don't  
understand how he got to it."  
        "I told you, Dante  
broke into the house," Fraser said.  
        Ray  
looked at him.  
        "It  
would have been simplicity itself for him to work  
out how to reach  
you.. You left all your study materials  
behind."  
        Ray was amazed. This  
was not the sort of thing Fraser  
did any more. His amazement became  
delight as Fraser  
continued.  
        "It would have been  
a simple task to discover you were  
doing most of your studies by  
corresspondence. There were  
envelopes and forms that carried all the details. If he  
watched the house before he broke in, he would have known  
that you were no longer in residence, and worked out that  
your most likely place of residence was your home here. He  
may have gone on to the college and learned for a fact you  
were still studying via correspondence."  
        "That's assuming  
Dante was the one who was behind the  
fire there."  
        "Of course he was,  
they told me he was torching houses.  
I'm sure if you examine the  
data gathered on the other  
places he burned down the evidence will prove that he was  
behind the fire at our place. Though I am not sure it will  
prove he sent that bomb. Though he had the motive and  
oppourtunity I don't beleive he sent it."  
        "Why? Because bombs  
aren't up his alley. I hate to  
break it to you like this, Benni,  
but it's not the first  
parcel bomb Dante's sent."          
        "It's not???"  
        "No. We didn't  
want you to get upset so we didn't let  
you know.. I got the new  
face because he sent me a nasty  
surprise package shortly after he got out of Australia.. I  
didn't receive it till I got back home and it went up in my  
face. And they found his prints on the packaging.."  
        "It wasn't explosive?"  
        "No.. It was  
an acid bomb.. among other things. But it  
wasn't explosive."  
        "That I can beleive  
was his work.. But not the  
explosives. It isn't right."  
        "In what sense,  
Benni?"  
        "To  
send explosives. Something that would maim you,  
yes.. But explosives..No..  
Explosives could hurt someone  
other than their intended victim.. And he wouldn't hurt an  
innocent.."  
        "Benni, the man  
is psycotic.. Psycho's don't care who  
they hurt."  
        "He is not phsycotic,  
there is a definate pattern to  
his attacks.. He is *punishing* people..  
Everything he's  
done, every person he's killed, every building he's burn,  
every act he's taken has been to punish people who hurt me."  
        "Hey, Benni, I didn't  
hurt you."  
        "You  
and Meg are exceptions to the rule, you are being  
punished for coming  
between us.. And he did nothing to Meg,  
he torched the house, instead of attacking her, because she  
was pregnant, and if he went after her personally an  
innocent, in that case, the baby, would be hurt."          
        "Benni, Dante  
wasn't the one who torched the house, it  
was the Dope smoking wacko  
you got expelled from the  
college."  
        "No. He admitted  
that he broke into the house, trashed  
it and stole Meg's Jewelry  
and your laptop and that is all  
he admited too. He only admited to that after they charged  
him with arson.. In his confession, he said that if there  
was a fire it was an accident. He did not deliberatly light  
a fire and the fire was *deliberately* lit. Dante was  
responisble for the fire."  
        "And you're dead  
certain he wouldn't have sent that  
bomb."  
        "Yes."  
        "But no one else  
had a reason to send me a bomb,  
Benni.. I haven't been an active  
cop since the accident. You  
pointed out he could have found everything  
he needed to send  
the bomb and make it look like the parcel came  
from the  
college."  
        "I don't think it  
was Dante.. I don't know who else  
would be motivated or know enough  
to do that.. And it makes  
no sense to me, if they were concerned that he would send  
another parcel bomb why wasn't the postal service warned to  
hand any parcels addressed to you to a explosives expert to  
be examined.."  
        "They were,"  
Walsh interjected. "The Feds were  
suppoused to be han..dle..ling.."  
        He trailed off and he  
and Huey shared looks.  
        "They  
did it *again*," They both growled at the same  
time.  
        "Did what?"  
Ray and Fraser both said.  
        "The  
Feds were warned about Dante, before he sent the  
first bomb. They  
had a chance to catch him before he got off  
the plane at O'Hare.  
The Australian Fed's warned them he'd  
gotten past them, and boarded a plane for the US and would  
probably be using a stolen passport. They ignored the  
warning."  
        "That's why that  
damned bomb got through.. They ignored  
the request to assist us  
by making sure your mail was  
intercepted and inspected before it was forwarded onto you.  
I didn't really trust them to do it after what happened.."  
        "That's why he told  
us to intercept any parcels that  
arrived," Huey added.  
        Welsh nodded.  
        "Now,  
I've got the proof I need to nail that bastard's  
hide to the wall."  
        "Why would they  
ignore warning's of such a nature I  
don't understand."  
        "It's because we  
pissed them off, Benni. We made them  
look like idiots. And when  
we caught the Bolt brothers after  
they turned us into a walking  
bomb, and made everyone look  
like fools, we came out of that debacle as the hero's of the  
hour  
while they looked just plain imcompentant on *national*  
T.V at that.  
Even Meg made them look stupid. She worked out  
what they were really after."  
        "You worked that  
out for yourself, all she did was give  
you the clue you needed to  
do it."  
        "Yeah, but she worked  
out there was something fishy  
going on first. And did it without  
all the clues we had that  
something else was going down there."  
        "True."  
        Ray looked at Welsh.  
        "And you better  
make damn sure he gets nailed for this,  
or I'm gonna send him something  
nasty in the mail myself,"  
Ray said, looking away at the instant  
family in the ward.  
        "And I've got five  
good reasons to go after that son of  
a bitch for it."  
        "Five.. There are  
three babies," Fraser said confused.  
        Ray  
gave a very faint smile at that.  
        "Meg  
and Huey are the other too," Ray said, then looked  
Huey over.  
        "You O.K?"  
        "Just some  
bad bruises. I'm gonna be as stiff as a  
board come morning."  
        "You and me both."  
        "I've got your  
place under gaurd, for the moment, I can  
have a team move in in  
the morning to start packing up  
whatever the fire didn't get after forensic's and the  
insurence company are through .."  
        "The insurence company  
won't be sending anyone out.  
There is no insurence on the place  
right now."  
        "What?" His  
mother almost shrieked.  
        Ray  
winced.  
        "I didn't have the  
money to renew it Ma.. I was gonna  
take care of that and the rest  
tommorrow. But don't worry  
about it.. I'll get someone in to take care of the damage.."  
        "With what?!"  
        "Don't worry  
about it, I got some money.. If it doesn't  
cost to much I should  
be able to cover all the repairs..  
Course it's gonna mean I can't spruce up the new place the  
way I planned.. Meg'll loove that.."  
        "New place? What  
new place."  
        "I  
brought the place we were talking about last night."  
        "The  
house we rented while you were in the hospital."  
        "That's  
the one."  
        "You're  
cusion Mario is a painter. And his sister is an  
interior designer..  
I'll call their mother in the morning  
and get them on the job... If we get them to do the work on  
both places we can get a big discount on them and you'll be  
able to afford to do both at the same time.. Of course we'll  
have  
to get them to do the other place first, there is no  
way we're moving back into that house until they've finished  
the  
work... If I make a few calls I'm sure we can rustle up  
enough helpers to get the work done as fast as possible."  
  
                        *~~~~~~~~~~*=@=*~~~~~~~~~~*  
  
        Ray discovered just how  
much fun it was to be the one  
Fraser clucked over after over the  
next few days. He spent  
the first day following the explosion in bed, every bruise  
on his body making itself felt. Fraser clucked and molly  
coddled him and he was in enough pain to take it without  
complaint. The closest he got to visiting Meg at the  
hospital was to make a phone call, making her laugh when he  
told her that the way Fraser was clucking that it wouldn't  
surprise him if he sprouted feathers and a beak.  
        He got a break from Fraser's  
clucking for an hour when  
Fraser, accompanied by a police escort,  
went to the hospital  
to visit Meg and the Babies. He returned with  
a huge smile  
and asked if he minded if Meg named the second boy."  
        "I don't mind, why  
should I mind."  
        "Well  
it is a boy, she thinks that since she chose to  
name the other one  
after her father that you should at least  
have a chance to think  
of a name for the other boy.. Since  
he is your son."  
        Ray rolled his eyes thinking  
here we go again.  
        "The  
last thing on my mind right now is going through a  
baby book to  
pick a name."  
        "If you have no  
objections, she would like to call him  
Robert."  
        "Robert??? Why does  
she want to call him Robert?"          
        "Well, she  
can't call him Benton, that would cause too  
much confusion, and  
while Fraser is a perfectly acceptable  
christian name, that would still cause confusion, so she  
chose Robert instead, after my father."  
        "Oh, well in that  
case, Robert is fine by me."  
        Fraser  
smiled.  
        "It's  
not as if I had my heart set on any other name.  
And Robert Thatcher  
sounds fine."  
        "It's not Robert  
Thatcher."  
        "It's  
not?"  
        "It's  
Robert Benton Thatcher-Vecchio."  
        Ray  
laughed.  
        "And  
the other boys name is Gregory Raymond Thatcher-  
Vecchio."  
        "And the girl?"  
        "Francesca  
Pauline Thatcher-Vecchio."  
        "Pauline???"  
        "I thought  
you chose her name."  
        "Francesca,  
yes, but Pauline, no."  
        "Oh,  
she said that it was after the man who turned you  
into studmuffin."  
        Ray laughed at that.  
        "And if you  
get a buzz cut, she's going to give you a  
full body buzz cut and  
the itch as your hair grows back will  
drive you insane. She likes  
your new hair style."  
        "I have no intentions  
of getting it cut.. I just like  
teasing her.. She can't keep her  
hands off it."  
          
                *~~~~~~~~~~*=@=*~~~~~~~~~~*  
  
        When Fraser finally let  
Ray out of his clutches, he was  
joined by Welsh and driven to his  
new home to inspect the  
work in process. As they walked through the urban fortress  
dodging painters and workers as they went, Ray stopped in  
his tracks and Welsh had to side step fast to avoid running  
into him.  
        "Elaine???"  
        The coverall and  
scarf covered woman up a ladder hard  
at work ragging the paint looked  
down, proving that it was  
indeed Elaine.  
        "I don't beleive  
it, what are you doing up there?"  
        "She's  
not the only one here."  
        Ray  
looked at Welsh.  
        "What  
do you mean? Don't tell me..."  
        Huey  
walked in, with a bottle in hand and Elaine  
scrambled down the lader  
tossing the rag onto the drop cloth  
wiping her hands on her cover  
alls.  
        "You're going to  
owe us big time for this," Elaine said  
as she accepted the  
drink Huey presented her with.  
        "So you finally  
dragged yourself out of bed."  
        "Fraser  
wouldn't let me out till I stopped wincing  
every time I moved. Now  
I know how Meg felt when he was  
clucking over her."  
        "With any luck we'll  
have this place livable by the  
time she and the babies are ready  
to leave the hospital."  
        "Oh,  
she's out.. Not that you could tell, she's taken  
root there.. Watching  
the babies. The only time she leaves  
their side is when Fraser arrives to take over so she can  
get some sleep."  
        Dewey, paint can in hand,  
wandered past, his coveralls  
and cap splattered in paint.  
        "What's he doing  
here?"  
        "I  
twisted his arm, I told him if he wanted his fifty  
he had to put  
in a little work."  
        "Hmm.. I have a  
supicion I know why you said Damn when  
I said Meg had triplets."  
        Huey laughed.  
        "After  
the new's that you were A. Returning to duty  
soon, and B. Are now  
the proud father of an instant family,  
we had a vote."  
        "Oh, what sort of  
vote?"  
        "Wether  
to give you a baby shower, a welcome back party  
or help prepare  
your new house so the work would be done  
before the babies were ready to leave the hospital. The  
majority elected to lend a hand."  
        "If I have any money  
after I pay for all this work I'll  
be throwing a big party to thank  
you all for the work."  
        "Well,  
you should have enough, this place is crawling  
with your relatives.  
I think the only person who isn't  
related to you, or one of your work mates is the blond  
beamouth who is doing the carpet laying. Which means all you  
have  
to pay for is the materials."  
        "There you are."  
        Ray looked around  
as his cusion walked in a clip board  
in hand and homed in on him  
to draw him away asking to  
bombard him with questions about colour schemes and the  
like.  
          
                        *~~~~~~~~~~*=@=*~~~~~~~~~~*  
          
        3 day's later, Fraser  
was jugling a pair of baby boys,  
and Ray took his little Francesca  
out of Meg's arms and  
handed them to his ever present police escort, before he  
took the boys from Fraser.  
        "Pick her up."  
        "What?"  
        Fraser picked her  
up, and Ray kicked the front door  
open, so Fraser could carry her  
over the threshold.  
        "Voila," Ray  
said as he followed them through.  
        Meg  
looked around as Fraser set her down. Not that  
there was that much  
to see, since the door opened onto a  
corridor, but there was a lot to see in the way of  
improvements to the decor, among other things a sky tube  
brought more light into the hall than there used to be,  
which showed off the profressional paint job, of egg shell  
blue walls, with picture rails, from which numerous pictures  
from  
the family home had been hung.  
        "You like?"  
        "This..is the  
last thing I expected."  
        "Well..  
You did say you wanted to let an interior  
designer loose here."  
        "I thought we were  
going to redecorate the place  
together."  
        "You were so wrapped  
up in the babies, I wasn't up to  
it, and Fraser was busy clucking  
over all five of us, you,  
me and the babies included. Someone had to do the work so  
we'd have somewhere to live once the babies were ready to  
leave the hospital. Wait till you see the rest of the house,  
my  
cusion, Maria, really did a great job, I arrived to take  
a look around at just the right time to stop her from going  
over the top in some of the rooms."  
        She collected her daughter,  
and stuck a finger in the  
babies mouth as she make a feed me face.  
        "Perhaps you should  
show me the nursery first."  
        Ray  
handed one of the boys to Fraser, and then headed  
down the hall  
with the trio following.  
        "Oh mi," Fraser  
said when he saw the nursery."  
        "This  
is.."  
        "Incredible,"  
Ray finished for Meg.  
        "Yes,"  
She said as she looked around at the partioned  
off room.  
        Each partion was composed  
of thick glass, that ran from  
the floor to the ceiling, the walls  
were a creamy pearl  
white with a rag wash molting of a rainbows worth of  
pearlescent colour giving it the appearence of mother of  
pearl. The floor was covered with a thick soft pile carpet  
with a rainbow's worth of colour and each partioned section  
held a swinging cot, and shelves that were painted to match  
the roof. Soft fluffy toys hung suspended from hooks in the  
roof with invisible nylon threadsm or attached to the wall  
with the aid of Velcro tabs and there was a rocking chair  
set in the center of the room with a table painted to match  
the walls.  
        "Ma had the rocker  
and the first cot up in the attic, I  
brought one to match it when  
I was on my shopping spree,  
then Ma, Frannie and Maria got together and brought the  
third. I got all the fluffy toys when I was on my shopping  
spree. Lucky I went over board in the toy department, there  
were plenty to go around."  
        "Why Glass?"  
        Ray placed his little  
bundle of joy in one of the cots  
and then crossed the room to pull  
back the mother of pearl  
curtains to show off the office behind the thick glass  
sliding doors. Meg placed Francesca Jnr in her cot and then  
joined Ray as he slid a door open and walked into the office  
and  
spun slowly waving at his pride and joy, which the  
colour scheme of the adjoining nursery had been extended  
into.  
        After he deposited the  
last little bundle of joy in a  
cot, Fraser joined them.  
        "I know who came  
up with the design for this office,  
Benton."  
        "How did you guess."  
        "It was in  
a magazine he showed me..Those wall units  
are the only thing it  
didn't include, but I know they were  
already here."  
        "I think it looks  
great. He snuck in and pounced on  
Maria and convinced her to have  
the office done to his  
specifications."  
        "The doors were  
my idea. I was thinking French doors,  
so I could see into the nursery  
when I was working here and  
I had a fight with Luitenant Welsh about them, because  
French doors are secure enough. Maria came to the rescue by  
suggesting the sliding doors. There are bolts that can lock  
them into place, and it's bullet proof no one can smash  
their way through it. That was paid for by the CPD, they  
also replaced the window in here and the nursery with the  
same glass."  
        "The partitions?"  
        "Are the same  
stuff. There won't be any glass breakages  
in that room. They also  
ripped out the doors and frames into  
both rooms, and the file room  
and took down the walls around  
them, the walls were rebuilt, with  
cement, the frames are  
security grade steel, and so are the doors, Maria did a  
great job having them fitted out and painted to look like  
the rest of the doors in the place. And the finishing touch  
was an alarm system that'd wake the dead. Once I bolt the  
doors for the night, it will automatically kick in, and if  
anyone manages to get in that alarm will kick in."  
        "They paid for all  
that?"  
        "Uh-hu..  
And the other door way too."  
        "What  
other door way?"  
        "The  
room adjoining the nursery is the main bedroom,  
they knocked half  
the wall down and put in a door there, a  
sliding door like that one. You can't even tell that it's  
there."  
        "They paid for the  
office fittings too," Fraser added.  
        "They  
did?"  
        "Well,  
they paid for the materials. Apparently I have a  
cusion or three  
who are handy with the carpentry tools. They  
went over the pictures  
Fraser showed Maria and reproduced  
the look, and took the doors of those units and replaced  
them so everything matched."  
        "And the locksmith.."  
        "Ah, yes..  
And they paid for a locksmith to come in and  
change all the locks  
and put them in on every window, and he  
installed that computer  
lock on the file room. The only way  
into it now is with a key card and the code."  
        "What computer lock?"  
        Ray crossed the  
room to show her the lock which was  
cleverly concealed behind a  
fake light switch on the wall.  
        "The lock on the  
door's for real, but this disengages  
the lock - and the file rooms  
alarm. Unless you use this  
first, the door lock won't disengage, and the alarm will go  
off. And both alarms are back to base, in this case the  
precinct."  
        "Why did they go  
to all that trouble and expense?"  
        "Because  
this is where I'm going to work. Just as soon  
as the new computer  
is delivered and the phone line is set  
up I'm back on duty, as the New Psych Officer."  
        "But you haven't  
finished your studies, you need better  
qualifications than you have  
to become a police  
phsycologist."  
        "I'm not a police  
phsycologist.. I'm something that's a  
cross between a profiler,  
a police phsycologist and a  
detective. It was the Luitenant's idea..It's an experimental  
post..  
I've got 6 months to prove I can handle it and do a  
good job, if I can, it'll become a permenant position, and  
I've got you to thank for it. Making me keep studying to  
qualify for the profiler's acreditation course. Once I get  
accredited, It'll become a full time position, and I'll be  
expected to start training others. But, I'll get a big pay  
raise and a promotion, and a fancy title to go with it."  
        "What  
sort of title."  
        "Cheif  
of the CPD Psych department. You should hear the  
Commissioner, now  
he's had time to think about the whole  
idea, he's getting really excited about it. And I've already  
got  
three cases on the slate."  
          
                        *~~~~~~~~~~*=@=*~~~~~~~~~~*  
  
        The "housewarming/Thank-you"  
Party was thrown the next  
day, and the busiest room in the house  
wasn't the  
lounge/dinning room, it was the nursery as Ray's relative's  
and work mates all trooped through to coo at the triplets  
and gush over the babies. During a lull in the visitations  
Ray slipped through nursery into his office, dragging Elaine  
in  
after him, pulling the curtains closed behind them to  
make use of the newly installed computer.  
        All the records on the  
three cases he'd been assigned  
had been installed, and one of those  
cases was Dante's.  
With Elaine's help the computer was hooked up to the  
internet in next to no time, via the mobile phone Welsh had  
presented him with on his arrival.  
        With a little more help  
from Elaine he contacted the  
Head Office of the RCMP. Elaine slipped  
away to rejoin the  
party and Ray slipped into his comfy chair and awkwardly  
typed out a message notifying them that he was the New Phsyc  
officer  
of the CPD, and detective in charge of the Dante  
McIntire case stateside, and informed them of the recent  
parcel bomb, which may or may not have been the work of  
Dante. Then he requested to be notified of his movements,  
particularily if he crossed the border and included the  
number of his mobile phone and badge number.  
        He heard noises coming  
the nursery that he'd already  
come to recognise as the precuser  
to a full throated feed me  
wail. Sending the message he closed down  
the programme and  
headed for the nursery, making a stop at the tiny room that  
held all the baby care parenphenilia to collect a prepared  
bottle of expressed breast milk from the warmer, popping it  
in his pocket.  
        He discovered Francesca  
Jnr was the culprit and leaned  
over the side of the cot to tease  
her lip with a finger. She  
opened her mouth and latched onto his  
finger and started  
suckling.  
        "Are we hungry,  
Mia Caro?" he asked knowing the answer  
as he drew his hand  
back.  
        She made mewling noises  
as he pulled the bottle from  
his pocket and popped the cover off.  
He was about to start  
feeding her when he heard his mobile phone ringing.  
        "What the hell?"  
        Fumbling with the  
bottle, he got the bottle back into  
his pocket and with an effort,  
wincing and hissing, he got  
the baby out of the cot, shifting her to his shoulder and  
carried her into the office where he'd left the phone.  
Sinking into the chair, he sat cross legged and set the baby  
in  
his lap. Tapping the phone he picked it up moving it to  
his shoulder and pulled out the bottle as he answered.  
        "You have reached  
officer Vecchio's office, this is the  
human answering service speaking."  
        The cap popped off the  
bottle and he listened to the  
Mountie on the other end identify  
himself as the head of the  
McIntire Task force and ask to speak  
to him.  
        "Speaking. I thought  
you were someone else.. That was a  
preety fast response, I only  
just sent the e-mail message  
off," Ray said giving the baby the bottle, then smiling as  
she latched on and started suckling hungrily.  
        :"E-Mail?":  
        "This isn't  
about my e-mail?"  
        "Luitenant  
Welsh informed us yesterday that a new  
officer was taking over the  
Dante Case stateside."  
        "That's me, that's  
what my E-Mail was about."  
        He  
awkwardly slipped his crippled hand under the bottle  
to free up  
his right, and turned the chair to reach out and  
open a drawer, pulling out a legal pad and pen and scooted  
the chair to a clear section of the desk.  
        "I take it there's  
been more action on your side," Ray  
said prepared to take down  
the details.  
        "I've got nothing  
but Bad news. Your Luitenant Welsh  
informed us of the bombing at  
the time, and the opinon  
expressed by Constable Fraser."  
        "I'm aware of his  
opinon."  
        "It  
would seem so is McIntire. We have a leak."  
        "What?"  
        "There are  
a few people in the RCMP who think McIntire  
is doing us a huge favour,  
especially after his terror  
crusade netted a drug lord responisble for killing several  
of our people.. I've suspect for some time now, that it's no  
coincidence  
that he was able to avoid the traps we set to  
catch him.. I finally got confirmation this morning."  
        "In what way?"  
        "Someone on  
my team is obviously among those who think  
he's doing us a favour..  
The new's of the bomb and Fraser's  
opinon was passed on to McIntire. I recived a letter in the  
mail this morning, specifically addressed to me, from  
McIntire, that I think you should see."  
        "What did it say?"  
        "Do you have  
a fax?"  
  
                        *~~~~~~~~~~*=@=*~~~~~~~~~~*  
  
        Welsh was laughing along  
with a group of his officer's  
at a joke when his cel phone trilled.  
He patted his coat  
down and moved away from the group to a quiet corner of the  
room to answer it.  
        :"Luitenant, it's  
me, Ray.":  
        Welsh  
looked around the room.  
        :"I'm  
in the office"  
        Welsh  
heard babies squaling in the background and  
smiled faintly thinking  
Ray just wanted him to send Meg in  
for him."  
        "Can you come, and  
bring Meg with you. The RCMP just  
got a very long letter from McIntire,  
and faxed it through  
to me.. I think you better take a look at it," Ray went on  
to say wiping the smile off his face.  
        "Oh, and bring Fraser  
too.. I've got more hungry  
infants than I can handle at once right  
now."  
  
                *~~~~~~~~~~*ooOO0=@=0OOoo*~~~~~~~~~~*  
  
                                  
Part Twenty  
  
                        *~~~~~~~~~~*=@=*~~~~~~~~~~*  
          
        Once the babies were  
fed and changed they were set on a  
bunny rug and Fraser entertained  
them. Meg joined Ray and  
Welsh in Ray's office, closing the doors behind her.  
        Welsh was handing back  
the sheath of pages that was the  
print out of faxed copy of Dante's  
letter the RCMP had  
received and forwarded onto Ray.  
        "What's your opinion?"  
        "He's definitely  
Psychasthenic."  
        Welsh  
rolled his eyes.  
        "Tell  
me something I don't already know."  
        "What  
do you have?" Meg asked.  
        Ray  
handed her the papers.  
        "20  
pages worth of ranting. He confessed to every crime  
he committed,  
including at least 3 murders and 6 arson  
attacks that they didn't know about. They're not on the list  
I've  
got."  
        "Why did he..?"  
        "They've got  
a leak on their end. Someone who's  
possibly helping him find his  
victims.. There are some  
officers who think he's doing them a big favour. Whoever the  
leak  
is told him about the bomb I received."  
        Meg started flipping  
through the long missive.  
        "He  
states 3 times that he didn't send it. Even though  
he admitted he  
sent the other one. He backed up Fraser's  
opinion of the explosion."  
        "Which was?"  
        "That Dante  
didn't send it. He kept saying it wasn't  
right. That even though  
Dante had the opportunity and motive  
he wouldn't send explosives.  
Because something like that  
could harm innocents. And after reading that, I have to  
agree with Fraser.. Just look at it, every page lists the  
records of the scum he killed, he went after killers and  
rapists. Half his victims worked for this Fitzsimmon's  
character, the crime lord who handed himself over to the  
authorities."  
        Meg handed the papers  
back to him. Ray flipped through  
them, and then tapped one.  
        "Here, he says he  
lost his temper and didn't mean to  
hurt Fraser and that all this  
death and destruction is his  
way of making up for what he did to Fraser. He says he  
promised Fraser that he'd never hurt him again. And he broke  
his  
promise, and doesn't deserve to have a man like Benni."  
        He  
flipped through to the second last page.  
        "And  
here.. He proved Fraser right again.. Fraser said  
he was sick, that  
there was something physically wrong with  
him. Dante says, he's dying, he's well aware of the fact. He  
finally  
did what Fraser asked him to and went to see a  
doctor who told him he has a brain tumour growing in the  
worse possible place. It's untreatable."  
        Ray tossed the pages  
down on the desk.  
        "And  
the rest of it is a rant about how he's gonna take  
out everyone  
who ever hurt Fraser and got away with it  
before he goes. He's making sure the people who hurt Fraser  
pay for what they did.""  
        "Does he specifically  
say that you are not on his hit  
list anymore?"  
        "No."  
        "But he says it  
in a round about way," Welsh added.  
        "He  
said no such thing," Ray said.  
        "What  
do you mean?"  
        "I  
mean all he said was that he didn't send that bomb  
and wouldn't  
do something like that because it could kill  
innocent people. He didn't say he has no interest in taking  
me out. Just that no innocents would die as a result of his  
Vendetta.."  
        "You still think  
you're on his hit list?"  
        "I  
need time to go over all this.. You want a better  
profile .."  
        "I didn't ask for  
a profile I asked if you still think  
you're on his hit list."  
        Ray drew in a deep breath.  
        "I think there's  
a very high chance that I am. Benni  
said to go over the data on  
the other arson attacks and  
compare it to the evidence they got at the house in Canada.  
He was wrong about who the arson was aimed at.. It wasn't  
aimed at Meg. He will never aim his violence at Meg, as far  
as he's concerned Meg is just doing the right thing by one  
of her men. He did the same sort of thing for Benni. Benni  
was his subordinate once, and he got hurt, bad, when he  
walked out at the wrong time. He took care of Fraser and  
helped him after the event - even though he was really  
pissed off with Fraser, with justifiable reason. In this  
case he knows he hurt Fraser as bad as the bastards he's  
hunting down now, and Benni was her subordinate.. So in his  
view it's her duty to take care of Fraser."          
        "Uh-hu. And  
if we take that one step further that means  
that the fire was aimed  
at..?"  
        "It was aimed at  
me."  
        "How  
did you come to that conclusion?"  
        Ray  
sat, sliding his chair up to the computer and  
clicked through his  
programmes.  
        "Well, he's not  
after Fraser, or Meg, which naturally  
leaves me as the target, and  
beyond that.."  
        Ray found the programme  
he was after then called up one  
that showed a floor plan of a house.  
        "That's the floor  
plan of our house in Canada," Meg  
said after a glance.  
        Ray nodded and pecked  
in a command.  
        "Show  
him where the library is."  
        Meg  
pointed and a virtual explosion took place under  
her finger. She  
pulled her hand back, and another virtual  
explosion took place, followed by another.  
        "Your study and  
bedroom."  
        The  
virtual flames started spreading through the rest  
of the virtual  
house.  
        "That's where the  
fires started. They found accelerants  
in all three places. He lit  
the first fire in the library,  
made his way to the study and lit that, and torched the  
bedroom on his way out. They could tell where each fire  
started, and what order they started by the amount of damage  
to  
the house and rooms around it," Ray said tapping the  
screen.  
        "The rooms either  
side of the library suffered the most  
extensive damage, and ceiling  
over it collapsed which is how  
they know that's where he started  
the first fire."  
        "I don't remember  
him taking credit for that in the  
letter."  
        Ray rolled the chair  
back to where he left the copy of  
the letter and scattered the pages  
till he found what he was  
looking for and tapped the page.  
        "It's right here,  
second last on the list of places he  
torched. That's our address  
back in Canada."  
        "Oh."  
        "And the third last  
place listed here is for a house in  
Queensbourgh lane," he  
said looking around at Meg.  
        "That was only two  
blocks away."  
        "That's  
how he found you. He probably saw you and  
Fraser out walking Deif  
and followed you back to the  
house.."  
        "Yeesss.. It makes  
sense now."  
        "Speaking  
of Deifenbaker, where is he?"  
        "He  
was sick, they've been keeping him in quarantine  
until they find  
out why."  
        "What contact number  
did you give them to let you know  
it was time to get him out?"  
        "Your family home's  
phone number."  
        "Don't  
you think you should call them, hmm? They can't  
exactly ring us  
there. There's no one home to take the  
call."  
        A little embarrassed  
that she hadn't thought of it, Meg  
nodded and reached for his phone.  
        "Uh-uh.. Hands off,  
that's for official business only."  
        She  
rolled her eyes and spun on her heels walking away.  
          
                  
*~~~~~~~~~~*=@=*~~~~~~~~~~*  
  
        Meg rolled over in bed  
to blearily look at her buzzing  
alarm clock before she slapped it  
off. Muttering about 4am  
feeding's, she dragged herself out of bed, grabbing her robe  
on  
the way to the door and promised herself that she'd talk  
Fraser into taking the early morning feeding's.  
        She pulled on her robe  
and slid the door open, stepping  
into the nursery to stop dead in  
her tracks, looking around  
the room. All three cots were empty and the room was lit up,  
not  
by its own lights, but via the lights from the office.  
        Trudging across the room,  
she peered through the thick  
glass and almost chuckled when she  
saw Ray and the babies.  
Judging by the blue jump suit covered in bunnies, Gregory  
was lying in Ray's lap kicking his little legs and waving  
his arms around as Ray held a now empty bottle to the baby's  
mouth  
with his crippled hand. The other two little bundles  
of joy were lying in baby bouncers set on the desk either  
side of the computer. Pacifier's kept Francis and Francesca  
Jnr quiet as they made little swipes at the mobiles which  
had been a gift and now hung stands clamped to the shelves  
that surrounded the computer.  
        The reason Ray didn't  
notice the baby had finished with  
its bottle was because he was  
busy intently studying the  
glowing computer screen.  
        Both Meg and Ray jumped  
half out of their skins as the  
sound of the nursery door handle  
being jiggled was followed  
by an alarm loud enough to wake the dead. The baby bottle  
went flying, and Ray spun the chair around with a hand to  
the desk as Meg spun around to look at the door.  
        Ray slid the chair across  
the floor, ripping open a  
drawer and pulled out his gun, tucking  
it under his arm  
before he rolled the chair further across the room and  
pulled out the under the desk rolling file cabinet and put  
it between the chair and the door shielding the baby in his  
lap with it. He held the baby carefully, moving a leg to the  
floor  
but keeping it in his lap, then he pushed the mobile  
file cabinet forward, scooting the chair up to the doors.  
Opening the doors just enough to slip a hand through, Ray  
pulled the gun out preparing to defend himself and his  
infants.  
        Meg glanced around as  
the doors parted to see the gun  
poke through the gap and Ray noticed  
her presence for the  
first time.  
        "Get behind the  
curtains," he hissed at her.  
        She  
slid behind the curtains without a sound and  
listened intently.  
Sure enough she heard the sound of  
movement coming from the bedroom. That was followed by the  
sound of the second slide door being nudged open a little  
more.  
        "Freeze! Hold it  
right there, or I'll blow your head  
off," Ray growled  
        "Don't shot, it's  
me," Fraser cried out.  
        "Benni,  
Damnit, don't you have any sense?!" Ray growled  
withdrawing  
the gun.  
        Meg stepped out from  
behind the curtains as Fraser  
approached.  
        "The babies need  
to be feed."  
        "He  
beat us both to it."  
        Ray  
pushed the mobile file cabinet away and shoved  
against the door.  
The chair rolled back, and he spun it  
around with his foot, stopping himself from hitting the desk  
with  
his hand. Snatching up the phone he hit the speed dial  
with his thumb as Fraser and Meg moved into the room behind  
him.  
        "This is Vecchio..  
I'm calling in about the alarm, it's  
a false alarm. Fraser set it  
off trying to get in to feed  
the babies. We don't need a response. Thank-you."  
        He flipped it closed  
setting it aside and spun.  
        "One  
of you better get to the door before someone  
breaks their foot trying  
to kick it in to get inside."  
        Meg hurried away leaving  
Fraser to face the now grumpy  
Ray's attention. Ray ignored him as  
the babies started  
squalling and rolled the chair across the room to hit the  
alarms controls and punch in the code to shut it down and  
reset it.  
        "How could you do  
*that* after I told you they rigged  
the place with Alarms?"  
        "You forget to mention  
they rigged the nursery door  
too."  
        "It is one of the  
ways to reach the office Benni."  
        "I'm  
sorry.. I was just trying to.."  
        "Be  
helpful.. I know.. I know.. So be helpful, I can't  
calm down three  
babies at once."  
        Fraser moved in to take  
Francis from his bouncer and  
cradled the asexual baby in his arms,  
to start rocking and  
crooning away to the baby. Ray pushed himself to Francesca's  
spot,  
brought his leg back up supporting Gregory then  
reached out to bounce Francesca Jnr in her bouncer, while he  
bounced  
the boy on his lap.  
        Frannie and her Mother  
arrived via the main bedroom in  
short order and Frannie took her  
name sake from the bouncer  
to start rocking her.  
        "What happened?"  
        "Fraser accidentally  
set off the arm, everything's  
alright.. Except to my plan to give  
everyone a chance to  
sleep through a night."  
        "I'm sorry."  
        "Yeah, yeah,  
I know.. Next time, you'll know better  
than to creep around in the  
wee small hours to feed the  
babies without being asked to handle it."  
        Fraser nodded and Ray  
swatted his mother's hands away  
as she tried to take Gregory from  
him.  
        "I can handle him."  
        Just to prove his  
father right, the little bundle of  
not so joyful baby settled down  
and happily waved his little  
legs and arms around, to latch onto  
Ray's finger when Ray  
reached down to stroke his face.  
        "Ohmigod,"  
Frannie squeaked.  
        Ray  
pushed the chair back to the computer and blocked  
her view of the  
grizzly picture of a corpse on the screen as  
he put the mouse to  
use closing the window.  
        "How did you hear  
that alarm? I thought this place was  
sound proofed."  
        "I left my door  
open a little, so I could hear the  
babies if they started crying,"  
his mother said.          
        Frannie nodded as if  
to say me too.  
        "With  
the door to the nursery closed you wouldna heard  
a thing, did you  
think of that?"  
        From the looks of chagrin  
on their faces it was obvious  
they hadn't.          
        "You seem to  
have had them all under control."  
        "I  
checked them before I went to make some coffee and  
discovered they  
all needed a diaper change and decided to  
feed 'em while I was at it and keep them from waking up  
Meg."  
        "No need to ask  
what you were doing up so late."  
        "I  
couldn't sleep so I thought I'd get some work done.  
I gotta start  
earning a wage now I'm officially broke  
again."  
        "You blew *all*  
that money?!"  
        "Getting  
this place fixed up, paying for the repairs to  
the other place and  
the bills for the triplets, I was wiped  
out. Throwing that party took the last of my money, but I  
figured I owed em for all the help they gave to get this  
place fixed up in time to bring the babies here."  
        "If you had consulted  
me about those hospital bills,  
Raymond you would know there was  
no need to pay for them,"  
Meg said as she returned.  
        They all looked around  
as she stalked into the room,  
irritated. She held out her hands  
to Frannie and Frannie  
handed her name sake over.  
        "Fine, I'll give  
them to you and you can get your  
health fund to refund the money,"  
was Ray's response.  
        "And while you're  
at it you can show me the receipts  
for the work on this place. I  
know you had it redecorated  
because I didn't like it the way it was."  
        "Trust me, it wasn't  
just because you hated the decor I  
thought it was pretty disgusting  
myself."  
        "Fine, we'll spit  
the difference, straight down the  
middle."  
        "No, we wont."  
        Frannie and her  
mother backed up and as one spun on  
their heels and walked out.  
        "Yes, we will. It  
may be your name on the title deeds  
but you said this was *our*  
home. And unless you stop  
playing Macho games of I'm the one the one who has to  
support the family, I'm going to take this instant family  
you won't even admit is yours and go home to my mother who  
I'm sure would be overjoyed to see her grandchildren."  
        "You do that."  
        She stared at him,  
then gave him a narrow eyed look.  
        "You  
don't get rid of me and the babies that easily.  
This house is as  
secure as it's possible to make a home, and  
McIntire won't touch  
me or the children."  
        He clicked his fingers  
making a rats gesture.  
        "You  
worked it out."  
        "You're  
not the only one who studied that Profiling  
Guide, Studmuffin. I  
read it to you, remember. I can do an  
instant profile on you any time I care too."  
        "You can stop bouncing  
the baby now, Ray. I think he's  
gone to sleep," Fraser intruded  
        Ray looked down to see  
that little Gregory was indeed  
asleep. Meg stepped closer to look  
at him and transferred  
the sleepy Francesca Jnr to her shoulder to reach down and  
caress Gregory's cheek. The baby made a few suckling  
movements and let out a little sigh.          
        "Did I mention  
that you handled them very well?"  
        "Thank-you."  
        "Don't do it  
again. You could have an accident, I  
imagine your arm is killing  
you after all that effort,  
and.."  
        Ray reached up to poke  
her in the sternum.  
        "Don't  
tell me to stay out of my family's care,  
Megatron."  
        "Megatron??"  
Fraser queried and was ignored.  
        "I  
intend to have a big part of their upraising. A  
*hands on* part.  
And you better get used to it. I don't care  
if I can only use one  
arm, or that it hurts when I have to  
use both - I gotta get used to the pain anyway cause I'm  
gonna suffer it for the rest of my life."  
        "There is no reason  
to suffer pain when you don't have  
too, Fraser and I are quite capable  
of..."  
        "You're not the  
only one who can threaten to walk out  
here. If you try stopping  
me having an active role in taking  
care of my babies I will walk  
and take Ma and Frannie with  
me," Ray cut in.  
        "Oh, so now when  
you want to play *surrogate* daddy,  
they're *your* babies."  
        "I am not playing  
surrogate, I know they're mine now."  
        "How?  
I never did get around to having that paternity  
test done."  
        "Ma."  
        "Don't tell me,  
she said the boys look just like you  
did when you were a baby and  
that was good enough for you."  
        "No..  
She knows that I didn't think they were mine,  
Frannie heard me say  
it and told her to stop planning our  
wedding because they weren't mine. I got grilled about why I  
thought  
they were someone else's while they were still in  
the hospital. And she did something no one else could do..  
Give me a reason why all the efforts to have a family with  
my ex-wife failed. And it had nothing to do with me. The  
fertility problem was my ex's"  
        "Oh.. So you took  
her word for it, when my word that  
you were the father wasn't good  
enough."  
        "No I did not take  
her word for it. I contacted my ex,  
told her what my mother said,  
and asked her if it was true.  
she confirmed it.. After she talked to a doctor."  
        "In other words..  
she didn't realise the problem was  
hers until you told her what  
your mother told you."  
        "Yes."  
        "How did your mother.."  
        "Angie caught  
the mumps from some kid she was baby  
sitting and I didn't know about  
it.. I got my skull  
fractured when I hit in the head with a bottle while I was  
trying to deal with a bar room brawl during my day's as a  
man in uniform. I was comatose the whole time Angie was down  
with  
the mumps. 6 weeks all up - not her, me. No one ever  
told Angie that mumps could cause infertility. And Ma came  
across that little bit of information when she was going  
through her trusty Medical encyclopedia trying to work out  
what was wrong with one of Maria's kids and worked it out  
for herself."  
        "Oh, that would  
explain it."  
        "Ange..  
My ex, tracked down the Doctor who treated her  
at the time, confirmed  
my mother's suspicions, then visited  
a gynaecologist who had good and bad news. The Good news was  
that  
she's not infertile, the bad news was that she is  
incapable of having children without specialist intervention  
of  
the kind we never had because we couldn't afford it."  
        "Ah."  
        "I'm sure my  
mother thought she was just being helpful  
when she told me about  
Angie's problem. But I wish she'd  
kept her suspicions to herself. I woulda chalked it up to  
that explanation you gave.. You know the one about being  
under stress. Cause even though the physical reason Ange and  
I never  
had a family was with her, the actual fault was  
mine."  
        "I don't understand.  
         "Ange was  
all for starting a family right away.. I  
wasn't, for various reasons,  
the main one being finances. I  
wanted to have a home before I started a family, I didn't  
plan on spending the rest of my life living under my parents  
roof..  
I wanted a chance to save up at least enough to put a  
deposit down  
on a house. An apartment is no place to raise a  
baby. So I made  
sure we didn't have any kids before I was  
good and ready to become a daddy. By which time it was too  
damn late."  
        "Oh.."  
        "She knows it too..  
She was not pleased.. She knows I  
became a daddy.. She took strips  
of me for it. And I suppose  
she's got a right to be angry. You and  
I ain't married and  
we've got the family she wanted and I deprived her off  
letting my pride get in the way. I ain't gonna make the same  
mistake  
twice.. If you want to cover the costs of  
redecorating this place. Go right ahead, but I ain't  
splitting the costs right down the middle, it ain't my name  
on the title deeds, it *our* names.. Your's, Benni's and  
mine."  
        Meg and Fraser stared  
at him.  
        "So  
if you want to split the costs they gotta go three  
ways."  
        "You put my name  
on the deeds?" Fraser breathed unable  
to believe what he was  
hearing.  
        Ray glanced at the doors  
and Fraser moved across the  
room to close them before moving back  
to the desk, to perch  
on the edge.  
        "I told you, I'd  
hate to have to chose between you and  
Meg. I'm not about to go public  
with the fact we're a  
threesome. If it happens, it can wait till you are  
officially declared fit to handle your own affairs. Meg and  
I could get into serious trouble if it happened before  
that."  
        "I..understand."  
        "Do you, I  
mean, do you really understand Benni? Or are  
you just saying that  
because you think that's what I want to  
hear. Every now and then  
I think you're ready, then you do  
something that makes me kick myself for wishful thinking."  
        "I do understand.  
You are my legal guardians. You could  
be charged with sexual misconduct  
if people found out that  
we had intimate relations."  
        "He understands  
alright."  
        "And  
I'm surprised that he does.. When so much else can  
go right over  
his head."  
        "When that man and  
woman came to Meg's Apartment to  
interview you and inspect the woman..  
The woman tried to  
question me.."  
        Ray nodded, remembering  
the event in question.  
        "I  
only vaguely comprehended what she was trying to do  
and I couldn't  
have answered her leading questions even if  
I'd been inclined to at the time.. I couldn't express my  
self at all at that time."  
        "She asked you leading  
questions."  
        Fraser  
nodded.  
        "Do  
you remember when you broke your wrist, the day my  
allergy manifested?"  
        Ray nodded, then he remembered  
something else and  
guessed what Fraser was about to say.  
        "They thought something  
was up then, because of what  
you did to be able to get to me at  
the hospital, by letting  
that Doctor think you were my S.O."  
        Fraser nodded.  
        "She  
said, the hospital records stated that we were a  
couple. She wanted  
to know if that was still the case, if we  
were having sex.. If you  
touched me in a sexual manner, if  
Meg ever touched me that way.. She even stated outright that  
if  
you did it was wrong, and would be classed as a  
misdemeanour, that they would have you charged and take me  
to a," he made a face, "nice hospital where the doctors and  
counsellors would help me get better."  
        Ray scowled.  
        "I  
knew I didn't like her."  
        "If  
they suspected that why did they ever give us  
guardianship?"  
Meg wondered aloud.  
        "I think I convinced  
her partner that Fraser was  
getting the best care he could get under  
the circumstances.  
And I don't think we did anything wrong. We didn't make him  
do anything that he didn't want to do.. We never forced him  
to join us.. Except for..one occasion when I'm not sure of  
the exact circumstances, it was always his decision to get  
involved."  
        "You're talking  
about the time we greeted you in full  
dress reds."  
        Ray nodded.  
        "That was my idea,"  
Meg admitted, "but I didn't make  
him do it. You told me to  
read that book, and I only did  
what the book said. Which was to show the victim that they  
wouldn't be treated the same way as they had by the abuser."  
        "Oh, so you decided  
to use me to show him that bondage  
games didn't have to necessarily  
mean Domination."  
        "He used to.. chain  
me to the bed."  
        They  
both looked at Fraser.  
        "He  
put a collar on me and made me wear it all the  
time.. And he used  
it to chain me to the bed. He made me  
wear matching cuffs too.. He used those to do it sometimes..  
And  
he would leave me there... chained to the bed while he  
went out to make sure I couldn't leave the apartment all the  
time  
during the last few weeks."  
        "Did you try to  
break loose?"  
        "All  
the time.. As soon as he left.. But he always kept  
the chain so  
short that I couldn't reach beyond the bed to  
find something to break the lock and the chain was too  
strong.. But I finally found a way.. I pocketed a sharp  
knife while I was loose one night and hid it where I could  
reach it and I used it the next time he left me chained to  
the bed when he went out and cut through the collar and  
cuffs. But it took too long.. He caught me before I could  
get out.. And locked me in.. And brought new ones. And he  
used those to do it.. And he didn't stop until I fought them  
so  
hard I passed out.. I had bruises and friction burns on  
my neck and wrists that couldn't be hidden.. Or ignored  
after that."  
        If he hadn't had a lap  
full of baby Ray would have  
risen to his feet to comfort Fraser,  
with a cuddle and  
promises that if he had his way nothing like that would ever  
happen  
to him again. He opened his mouth to say words to  
that effect but Fraser had only stopped to draw in a deep  
breath.  
        "That was wrong..  
That was not my fault.. I do  
understand that.. I understand what  
you told me.. No one  
deserves to be degraded that way," Fraser went on, then he  
rose and moved, juggling the baby to his shoulder, to reach  
out and caress Meg's cheek.  
        "You did the right  
thing.. Even though I could barely  
comprehend it at the time.. What  
we did that day was not  
wrong, it was not meant to humiliate, degrade or dominate.  
That was.. when I learned the difference. It was just a game  
with  
you.. You stopped and made him calm down and took the  
cuffs off when he became excited and started fighting them.  
That was something Dante would never do for me. That's what  
makes you different. You gave Ray a choice, and a chance to  
back out of it.. I never got that choice. But if you asked  
me to do it, if either of you asked me to do that, I would  
agree to it, because I trust you. Because I know it would be  
nothing  
more than a game."  
        Fraser got two radiant  
smiles at that.  
        "But  
right now.. I just wish we could sleep in the same  
bed together  
again.. But I understand that we can't do that  
right now."  
        "Oh, there's no  
reason we can't do that now if that's  
what you want, Benni."  
        "Your mother and  
Frannie.."  
        "Don't  
worry about them.. After that wake up call  
they'll sleep in.. Besides,  
if you want to get a little  
frisky all we have to do is make sure *all* the doors are  
closed and they won't hear a thing."  
        Fraser glanced at Meg.  
        "Well, I don't  
know about Fraser, but I've been feeling  
frisky for months and like  
the Rolling stones say, I can't  
get no satisfaction."  
        Ray laughed at that,  
then awkwardly and with a barely  
controlled grimace moved little  
Gregory to his shoulder  
before rising to his feet.  
        "Then what say we  
put our instant family here to bed  
and get reacquainted."  
        "Can we do that,  
I mean, Meg just had the babies, is it  
safe too.."  
        "I had a C-Section.  
And the Doctor gave me the all  
clear the other day. There's no reason  
I can't get frisky if  
I want to."          
        "Oh..well..  
Let's put the babies to bed then shall we."  
  
                *~~~~~~~~~~*ooOO0=@=0OOoo*~~~~~~~~~~*  
  
                                Part  
Twenty One  
  
                                  
ooOO0=@=0OOoo          
  
        After getting Francesca  
Jnr settled, Meg entered the  
bedroom to find Fraser under the blankets  
but no Ray.  
        "Where's Ray?"  
        "He's making  
sure all the other doors are closed."  
        Considering  
it had taken her a good ten minutes to get  
Francesca Jnr settled,  
Meg found it a tad suspicious that  
little job wasn't over and done with already.  
        "I just want to  
get a drink of water. I'll be back in a  
minute. Don't even think  
of getting so comfortable you fall  
asleep there," she said heading for the other door way.  
        He  
gave her a little smile and waited until she left  
the room to roll  
over and reach for the alarm clock to reset  
the alarm.  
  
                  
*~~~~~~~~~~*=@=*~~~~~~~~~~*  
  
        Meg headed for the kitchen  
to give truth to her lie  
about the glass of water, and discovered  
Ray sitting on a  
stool. He was staring at a small medication bottle on the  
bench with a hypodermic needle and sterile swab sachet  
beside it.  
        "Raymond?"  
        He glanced up at  
her and back to the medication with a  
sigh.          
        "You know that old  
saying.. About the spirit being  
willing."  
        She approached and reached  
out to pick up the bottle  
and looked at it.  
        "This isn't Fraser's."  
        "It's mine,  
Paul gave it to me."  
        "It's  
for your arm isn't it?"  
        "He  
said I should use it if I was going to get up to  
anything that might  
make me use my arm.. Everything beyond  
raising and lowering it is painful.."  
        "You hide it well."  
        "I'm always  
taking pain killers for it.. But they just  
keep the ever present  
pain down, Sometimes.. When I move my  
arm without thinking, I just wanna scream and wish he had  
amputated it. It was pure vanity that made me beg him not to  
do  
it. I didn't want go through the rest of my life with  
only one arm. He said, I better be ready to pay the price  
for keeping it."  
        "And the price is  
pain."  
        "Pain  
I can handle.. With the pills he gave me.. The  
occasional twinge  
of severe pain, I can handle.. But  
sometimes it goes beyond pain, sometimes it's pure  
unadulterated agony," he said, heaving a deep sigh, "Like  
just now.. I shut the door in the hall and reached for the  
light switch near it without thinking.. Big mistake. It was  
so bad I almost passed out"  
        She plunged the needle  
through the cap of the bottle  
and loaded the syringe.  
        "That's why you  
came after this."  
        He  
sighed with a nod and held up his right arm, his  
hand was shaking  
so bad that if he'd been holding a carton  
of milk he could have turned it into a milk shake into next  
to no time. She ripped the sachet open with her teeth and  
then reached out to pull his sleeve back to swab a spot near  
his  
elbow where a vein was clearly visible.  
        "If you give me  
that shot I'm gonna be pathetically  
useless in bed. It's not just  
pain it kills."  
        Her hand froze as she  
reached for the loaded syringe.  
        "That's  
why you were just sitting her staring at it."  
        "That  
and the fact I couldn't inject myself with it  
right now. I was..  
hoping the pain would fade to a  
manageable level."  
        Her hand fell on the  
swab packet.  
        "Do  
you have any more of these?"  
        He  
nodded and waved in the direction of the  
refrigerator.  
        "In the red container."  
        She capped the syringe  
and slipped it into her pocket  
before she collected the bottle and  
carried it to the  
refrigerator. She found the container he mentioned and  
opened it to find a 11 identical bottles, a white pill  
bottle and a packet of swab sachets. She slipped the bottle  
back into the container and pulled out a swab tucking it  
into her pocket and then she pulled the pill bottle out and  
looked at it. His name was on the label, along with  
instruction on how many to take when necessary. Opening the  
bottle she looked inside to find it was close to empty. She  
tapped two pills out then put it and the put the container  
back where she found it.  
        He watched her move from  
the refrigerator to the  
cupboards where she fetched a glass to fill  
it. Then she  
joined him and tapped his lips with a finger.  
        "Open up."  
        He did and she popped  
the pills into his mouth and  
helped him drink.  
        "How long do they  
take to work?"  
        "At  
least 20 minutes."  
        Setting  
the glass down she took his shaking hand and  
tugged him off the  
stool to lead him out of the kitchen.  
        "Do you know what  
Endorphin's are?"  
        He  
smiled faintly.  
        "Yeah."  
        "I think it's  
time we reminded your body what they  
are."  
  
                  
*~~~~~~~~~~*=@=*~~~~~~~~~~*  
  
        "Ah, good, you didn't  
fall asleep on us."  
        "I  
was about to go looking for you."  
        "Ray  
bumped his arm."  
        "Ouch."  
        Ray gave a weak  
smile.  
        "It's  
a little tender right now, so we just have to  
make sure we don't  
anything that makes him go through the  
roof for the wrong reasons," Meg told Fraser.  
        "Oh," Fraser  
said disappointed as he came to the  
conclusion that meant getting  
"reacquainted" was out.  
        Meg  
pulled the swab and syringe out of her pocket and  
set them on the  
bed side table before she turned to give Ray  
a light push to make  
him sit on the edge of the bed.  
        "That doesn't mean  
what you think, Ben, I think one of  
your fabulous back rubs would  
help him rediscover the mood."  
        Fraser  
scrambled out from under the blankets and  
crawled over the bed to  
kneel behind Ray.  
        "You'll have to  
remove his top."  
        She  
smiled, kneeling before Ray to begin the slow  
process of undoing  
the half dozen buttons. She kissed her  
way down his torso with each new button that was separated  
from its button hole. The whole time Fraser's fingers  
meandered over Ray's back through the thin material of his  
soft cotton pyjama top. By the time Meg reached his belly  
button he started forgetting about the pain in his arm and  
remembering what it was he missed so much about his lovers.  
        "I love Endorphin's"  
he murmured as she worked her way  
back up his chest and gently pushed  
his top away.  
        With a chuckle she kissed  
him while Fraser took care of  
getting the sleeve over Ray's brace  
with infinite care. The  
top hit the floor and Fraser's hands started moving over his  
back  
finding every point of tension and working with a  
gentle skill to eliminate it. Meg's hand's got busy along  
with Fraser's, moving over Ray's torso, her finger's  
skittering over skin which grew warmer to touch as they  
worked. Her mouth moved from his to glide over his throat  
and shoulder before moving lower, trailing kisses and a nip  
or two down his chest as her hands travelled lower.  
        He gave a pleased little  
growl as her mouth closed over  
his nipple and she began to lave  
that bud with her tongue  
and her fingers teased his skin at the waist band of his  
pants. He arched, both his body and his neck when he felt  
Fraser's mouth against his neck.  
        "Oooh yes,"  
he breathed.  
        Meg's  
teeth began to gently tease the hard bud his  
nipple had become as  
her tongue flicked it. And Fraser gave  
him a thorough love bite.  
        "I...uh..think..you  
better stop."  
        They  
stopped, Fraser leaning forward to look at him,  
Meg looking up.  
        "Or this is gonna  
be all over real soon."  
        They  
both chuckled and Meg rose, taking his hand  
drawing him up to his  
feet. His pants joined his shirt in  
short order and they climbed under the blankets where Fraser  
and  
Ray turned their attentions to Meg and set about making  
sure she got satisfaction, with nothing but their hands and  
mouths.  
        "God.. I missed  
this."  
        "Me  
too," Ray said as he moved up her body to kiss her.  
        "Me  
three," Fraser chimed in making them giggle.  
        "I  
think me three is the odd man out, don't you."          
        "I agree with  
Me too," Meg said.  
        With  
that Meg and Ray pounced on Fraser and had him  
shrieking with laughter  
and pleasure through the means of  
tickles, caresses, kisses, nips, sucks and his favourite  
kind of groping.  
        It was during the midst  
of this that Fraser's hands  
stopped clawing at the sheets and sought  
out Ray's body to  
pull him close. A husky passionate request had Ray rearing  
up wide eyed, startling Meg, and Fraser blushed from head to  
toe  
and rolled away.  
        Ray reached out to stop  
him.  
        "Benni..  
I didn't say no.. You just.. surprised me."  
        Fraser  
looked over his shoulder, with a look that  
melted Ray's heart.  
        "Are you sure you  
wanna.. do that.. I mean.."  
        Fraser  
rolled back, and Meg reached out to stroke his  
chest, waiting to  
see what happened next. She had a very  
good idea of what Fraser wanted in mind, the only question  
being wether he wanted to do it, or have it done to him.  
        "I'm sure that I  
want to do it, with you. But.. do you  
want to do it with me."  
        "I.. I.."  
        Fraser reached up to  
press two fingers lightly to Ray's  
lips.  
        "I might be ready  
for that, but you're not, yet."  
        "I'm  
sorry."  
        Fraser  
gave him a tremulous smile, and then pulled his  
head down.  
        "I understand,"  
he said, before kissing Ray putting all  
his longing, passion and  
desire for the Italio-American into  
that kiss and letting his other  
hand roam over Ray's body.  
        Ray gave a deep moan  
of pleasure and returned the kiss  
measure for measure as Fraser's  
hand roamed lower and lower.  
The bed shifted suddenly and then Meg's  
hands joined in and  
he felt her brush aside his pony tail before her lips  
brushed the nape of his neck.  
        Between them, Fraser  
and Meg rolled him onto his back  
without his tender arm being jostled.  
He reached out to pull  
Fraser's head back down.          
        "Later,"  
he promised, and kissed the tip of Fraser's  
nose, to be rewarded  
with a radiant smile.  
        Meg's activities thoroughly  
distracted Ray as Fraser  
moved away. As she took him into her moist  
sheath his hands  
clawed the sheets and he arched under her. Then she froze  
over him and after a few moments he opened passion glazed  
eyes and looked up to see her straddling him, with Fraser  
behind her, looking around her, both of them looking down to  
his  
left.  
        He looked down and realised  
he'd moved his finger's  
without being aware of the pain that usually  
accompanied  
such movement. Before that fact fully sunk in Meg moved over  
him  
and he felt Fraser's finger's on the jewels of his  
manhood. Rational thought fled as together they took him to  
the heights of ecstasy and pushed him over the edge leaving  
him crying out in rapture.  
  
                  
*~~~~~~~~~~*=@=*~~~~~~~~~~*  
  
        "Lieutenant Welsh,  
good morning, would you like some  
coffee," Meg greeted Ray's  
superior the next morning.  
        "Yes, thank-you.  
Is Ray up? Or is he with your instant  
family?"  
        He expected a little  
smile, he didn't get it, instead  
she turned to lead the way down  
the corridor.  
        "Ray is still in  
bed, with his doctor in attendance.  
Having Ray's sister here convinced  
him to pay a house call."  
        "What's  
wrong?"  
        "If  
something was wrong, he wouldn't be here, he'd be  
in hospital."  
        "If there's nothing  
wrong then why did you call the  
doctor?"  
        "It's just one of  
the things we have to learn to cope  
with.. Thanks to McIntire,"  
she said, the last a low growl.  
        Welsh  
followed her into the kitchen to find Fraser,  
Frannie and her mother  
up, dressed and all with a baby on  
their shoulder. In Fraser's case it was Francis, who gave an  
indelicate  
little belch.  
        "Yesss.. Who's a  
good Bambino," Meg said taping him on  
the nose as she moved  
past Fraser.  
        In Frannie's case, she  
had a damp patch on her shoulder  
and her name sake was happily mouthing  
on a curl that had  
escaped the bun she'd put her hair up into. And Mrs Vecchio  
was rubbing little Gregory's back.  
        "How do you like  
your coffee Lieutenant?" Meg asked as  
she pulled cup from the  
hooks that held and displayed a  
matching set of six coffee mugs and set it before the jug to  
reach  
for the coffee.  
        He told her and looked  
around as Gregory gave a belch  
that put his sib's to shame.  
        "Now where have  
I heard that before?" Frannie said in a  
faintly arch tone thinking  
of her father and making her  
mother give a faint chuckle.  
        "I heard someone  
set the alarm off last night," Welsh  
commented as he accepted  
the cup Meg handed to him.  
        "That was me,"  
Fraser said, accepting full  
responsibility. "I didn't realise  
the alarm system covered  
the nursery door too and tried to be helpful  
by coming down  
to feed the munchkins at 4 am to let Meg and Ray get some  
sleep."  
        "Not that Ray was  
sleeping."  
        "He  
beat everyone too it," Frannie said.  
        "He  
didn't beat any one to it, he was up half the night  
working."  
        "Some people play  
computer games while they nurse a  
baby, he looks at pictures of  
corpses instead," Frannie said  
with a little shudder.  
        "Male or Female?"  
        "Female."  
        "Ah good he's  
putting some time in on the Pearen case  
then."  
        "Which one is that?  
He mentioned three cases," Meg  
commented as she made herself  
a cup of coffee, then poked  
her tongue at Fraser as he gave her a stern look.  
        "The Pearen case  
is a Double homicide, unsolved, with a  
traumatised witness we've  
spent a fortune on specialist  
counsellors trying to get the story out of. With no luck. It  
was  
when that particular case came to mind that the  
Commissioner decided to run with my idea for bringing Ray  
back into the fold. They've already spent more than it will  
cost to run the experiment for six months trying to break  
that case. If Ray can do it, he can secure his place for the  
next  
six months at least."  
        "I don't see how  
staring at a picture of a corpse is  
going to help him break a case,"  
Frannie said transferring  
her name sake to the other shoulder.  
        "Actually, Frannie,  
you would be surprised at what a  
profiler can learn about a killer  
from staring at such a  
picture."  
        "Particularly in  
the case of a double homicide where  
there's a second victim. By  
comparing picture's he could  
learn a lot about the killer's M.O.M."  
        "Mom?"  
        "Method of murder."  
        "Oh. I thought  
that was M.O for modus operandi."  
        "It's  
much the same thing. In this case, he could work  
out the particulars  
of how each person died, in so much as  
what the killer did and how he or she did it, over the cause  
of  
death."  
        Frannie held the baby  
out.  
        "You hear  
that Mia Caro, get used to it. You're going  
to hear them talking  
like that all the time."  
        There were chuckles all  
around at that and Frannie  
rose, still holding the baby out, her  
nose wrinkling.  
        "Who's got diaper  
duty, this piccino needs a pooper  
scooper."  
        Meg set her coffee down  
moving to take the baby from  
her.  
  
                  
*~~~~~~~~~~*=@=*~~~~~~~~~~*  
  
        Meg gave the baby a bath,  
changing her jump suit before  
transferring her to a cradle. She  
heard the sliding door  
open and looked around as Paul entered and stopped dead  
looking around the room in admiration.  
        "Who's your interior  
designer and is he still  
available?"  
        "She's one of Ray  
and Frannie's cousins, and if you  
want to hire her you'll have to  
speak to either Ray or his  
mother about it. I have no idea how to contact her."  
        "I'll talk to his  
mother about it, I *love* this room.  
My patients aren't the only  
things that can could do with a  
face lift in my surgery. The waiting room could do with one  
too."  
        "How's Raymond?"  
Meg asked to concerned to laugh at  
that joke.  
        "I gave him something  
to put him back to sleep. He's  
still awake, and feeling no pain,  
but he'll drop off soon."  
        "Apart  
from that?"  
        "I'm  
amazed no one came in to stop me from *torturing*  
him the way he  
was screaming as I manipulated his arm."  
        "The  
house has been thoroughly sound proofed. We didn't  
hear a thing."  
        "Ah, that explains  
it. Are you sure you saw his fingers  
move?"  
        "Quite sure. They  
were definitely moving. And he did a  
lot more than just move his  
fingers, he was using his whole  
arm at one point."  
        "And he didn't scream  
his lungs out at the time?"  
        "He  
had other things on his mind at the time."  
        "Babies  
or sex?"  
        A  
faint pink flush tinted her cheeks.  
        "The  
later."  
        "That'd  
do it. Sex raises the pain threshold. But it  
doesn't eliminate it.  
Which means you have two choices, you  
can either get used to him passing out on you when the pain  
reaches a point when all the endorphin's in the world  
couldn't dull it or convince him to wear the new brace I'll  
drop around tonight. It will keep his arm totally immobile,  
and have the added benefit of making it much safer to get  
frisky without worrying about wether or not his arm might  
get bumped."  
        "Is that a brace  
you're talking about or a cast?"  
        Paul  
smiled very faintly.  
        "You  
could call it a slimline, reusable cast."  
        "No  
offence, Doctor, there isn't someone we can  
consult, about more  
work on his arm, is there? An expert who  
can .."  
        "There were two  
such experts at the hospital that I  
consulted. They examined him,  
while I had him under, and  
they both agreed on the same point. Amputation was the most  
humane thing to do. But he was adamant that he wanted to  
keep the arm."  
        "He mentioned that  
you warned him it would come at a  
price."  
        "That price may  
not be as high as I thought.. Make him  
keep the cast on for at least  
a week, two if possible. Then  
send him back to me. I'll let Francesca know when I can slot  
him  
in. I want to examine his arm again, if you can keep him  
in the  
cast I should be able to finish the grafting and all  
going well, set up phsyiso sessions for him.. The fact he  
was moving his arm, fingers and all suggests he might regain  
movement."  
        "But wether he regains  
it without extreme pain when he  
uses it is another question."  
        "I'm afraid so."  
        "Thank-you  
for coming."  
        "Any  
time."  
  
                  
*~~~~~~~~~~*=@=*~~~~~~~~~~*  
  
        Meg sat on the edge of  
the bed and brushed Ray's hand  
with her finger tips. His eyes opened  
to half mast, and  
closed fast, his arm going up to cover his eyes.  
        "Turn offff z'light,  
hurz.."  
        Meg  
jumped to her feet, to cross the room in a hurry to  
turn off the  
light. On returning to the bed, she laid a hand  
on his leg.  
        "It's off now. How  
are you feeling?"  
        "Muz  
better now.. gave me a zot," he slurred, lowering  
his arm.  
        "So he said."  
        "Zoo-pid..zoulda  
no bet-terrr."  
        "I  
should have taken, I'm in pain in as a hint."  
        "Not  
yourr f..ffault. All mmminne. Won' appen.. 'gain."  
        "He's  
going to bring a new brace around to put your arm  
in to make sure  
it doesn't happen."  
        He had nothing to say  
about that and she gave him a  
little poke. He rolled over and mumbled  
something totally  
incomprehensible. She tugged the blankets up and leaned over  
him,  
brushing his hair back and gave him a kiss on the  
cheek. Sitting back, she watched him snuggling down and  
settling into sleep.  
        "If he comes to  
finish what he started, I will kill him  
for what he did to you and  
Ben."  
        "Zat's what he wants,"  
Ray muttered in his sleep.  
        Meg  
started and leaned closer.  
        "Run  
that by me again and expand on it, please."  
        "Wanz  
to die... No more pain.. Izn' the zuizidal type..  
He woulda killed  
himzelf.. after... he realized.. what he'd  
done to Benni if he was.. In pain.. Benni zed so.. He doz'n  
wanna live... wouldn't be.. so e-z to track.. if he waz'n  
leaving trail..to find.. wanz to be caught, wanz to be  
killed.. Wanz someone to put him out of hiz mizery."  
        "When did you work  
that out?"  
        "Larz  
night. Thaz whaz letterz abouz. Iz a taunt to  
make uz react the  
way he wanz. I've done thiz and I done  
that an I'm gonna keep doing it an you carn ztop me, nhah  
nhah.."  
        Meg leaned closer.  
        "Do you think he  
wants to kill you, or just scare you  
into giving him what he wants."  
        "Both..Either..  
one or the otherrr. Doz'n matter.. Hez  
coming zoon."  
        "How soon?"  
        "Two left..onza  
liz.. Arz them.. zend records.. Narzy  
zonz of bitchez. He will take  
them out.. He won't come..  
until they're dead.. And when they are.. He'll come... and  
he'll do it.. in a way that gez attention.. zo I'll know hez  
comin..  
and be ready to defend myzelf."  
        "I see.. I'm curious,  
what did Fraser want from you  
tonight, what did he ask you to do?"  
        "Wanzta go all the  
way.. With me.. Thaz good.. Never  
tried to do that before. He never  
tried it with you..or did  
he."  
        "No, he hasn't."  
        "Good zign..  
great zign.. Hez not juz zaying one thing  
and doin anozer.. Zed  
he truz uz.. and.. that proved it. You  
should try..to zeduce him..  
zee if he takez you up on it. If  
he doz then hez ready for the next  
step."  
        "You're not ready  
to go that far with him yet."  
        "Don'  
know.. never.. done that.. juz learning.. thinz  
az I go 'long..  
Do to him.. what he doz to me.. that  
workz.."  
        "Tell me about the  
babies."  
        "Zair  
boot-e-full..ador-e-bull..I can't believe zair  
mine."  
        "They are."  
        "Yez... Keep..  
pinching myzelf.. I wanned zem to be  
mine.. zo bad.."  
        "Why?"  
        "Cauz I wanna be  
a daddy.. Gonna be the bezt far-zer  
any kid ever had."  
        "That's why you  
*really* wanted the to be yours. There  
was no other reason?"  
        "Juz one.. babiz  
would..be a reazon to..ztay togzer..  
when Benni got better.. I mizzed  
tha zo muz.. You were  
alwayz zic.. zo I ztudied..hard inztead.. never even tried..  
to  
get my noz outta my bookz.. thought.. it waz over.. "  
        She  
leaned over him, stroking his hair and placed a  
soft kiss near his  
ear.  
        "Once or twice I  
thought of putting on my naughtiest  
lingerie, getting my cuffs,  
luring you away from your books,  
to cuff you to the bed and have  
my wicked way with you," she  
said and watched him give a sleepy  
smile.  
        "Actually, it was  
a lot more than once or twice.. I  
thought about doing it a lot."  
        His smile grew wider.  
        "I even got  
Fraser into his uniform once.. He was like  
a little puppy, so excited  
about the idea."  
        "Zo what happened?"  
        "I sent him  
in to lure you out.. But all you did was  
say that's nice Benni..  
Do you mind, I've got 3 assignments  
and I have to get this finished tonight."  
        "Oppz."  
        The sound of people in  
the nursery caught her  
attention. One of the voices she heard was  
Lieutenant  
Welsh's. He wanted to get his hands on Ray's copy of the  
McIntire letter."  
        "3rd CD, from the  
left zecond shelff to tha right.  
Soundwave."  
        She frowned trying to  
work out what he was talking  
about then realised he must have heard  
Welsh talking. She  
couldn't work out what it meant, but it was sure to have  
something to do with it.  
        "I have to go..  
But I have one last question."  
        "Mhhm."  
        "You were studying  
the Pearen case file too.. Did you  
come to any conclusions on that  
case?"  
  
                  
*~~~~~~~~~~*=@=*~~~~~~~~~~*  
          
        Meg found Welsh closing  
the drawer of the mobile file  
cabinet and looking irritated when  
she entered the office.  
        "Do you have a key?"  
        "Of course  
I have a key. I have two, the master and the  
spare. Do you know  
where he put that letter?""  
        "No."  
        "It must be in the  
file room, do you know where he put  
the key card?"  
        "No.. Wait.."  
        She moved to the  
computer, looked to the right, and  
pulled the 3rd cd from the left  
out and opened it. All it  
contained was a CD. She pulled the booklet out and the key  
card slipped out onto the desk.  
        "One key card,"  
she said picking it up.  
        "I  
don't suppose he told you the code too?"  
        She  
walked over to the file room, pushed the fake light  
switch aside  
and slipped the card in, tapping in the name  
Soundwave. The light turned from red to green and she heard  
a beep and a click. Welsh moved in pulling out his keys and  
opened the door, to enter the room.  
        "Did you interrogate  
the Doctor?"  
        "Of  
course."  
        "Whatever  
he gave Raymond to put him to sleep would  
make a wonderful interrogation  
tool," Meg commented as Welsh  
found the I file drawer and opened  
it to find a lone file  
there.  
        "What makes you  
say that?"  
        "He's  
talking in his sleep. Quite intelligently I might  
add, if a little  
slurred. He heard your voice and told me  
where to find the key card and the code."  
        "Ah."  
        "I asked him about  
the Pearen case.."  
        Welsh  
closed the drawer looking around.  
        "What  
did he have to say about it?"  
        "In  
his opinion, and he did say he could be wrong,  
there were two killers,  
one is the second victim, the other  
is the child you've been trying so hard to get to talk about  
what  
happened.."  
        "What?!"  
        "The couple had  
a fight, one of them picked up a knife,  
probably the wife, to fend  
her husband off. He got the knife  
off her and stabbed her several  
times, in the heat of the  
moment, the child came to his mother's defence, too late. In  
a frenzy  
of fury the boy kills his father. When he realises  
what he's done, he goes into traumatic shock. That's why  
there's no sign of forced entry, no apparent motive, no  
enemies, no theft. It also explains why the majority of the  
wounds are to the lower body. Once he got started, he went  
berserk, that's why there are so many stab wounds. According  
to  
the records you gave him. The couple had a history. The  
husband was charged with spousal abuse several times, but  
the charges were always dropped. Child abuse, physical not  
sexual was suspected, but not proven."  
        Welsh turned and hunted  
down the P file drawer  
unlocking and opening it to pull out the  
lone file there.  
  
                *~~~~~~~~~~*ooOO0=@=0OOoo*~~~~~~~~~~*  
  
                                Part  
Twenty Two  
  
                                  
ooOO0=@=0OOoo          
  
        Ray slept through the  
day, and the return of the Doctor  
who placed his arm in the cast  
like brace that would  
immobilise his arm from the shoulder to the fingers. He also  
slept  
through the return of Lieutenant Welsh, 3 feeding's,  
numerous turns at diaper duty, the bathing of the babies,  
and the fruitless seduction of Fraser by Meg after Frannie  
departed with the Doctor for a night on the town and Mrs  
Vecchio volunteered to watch the little bambino's for a  
time, while they "caught up on their sleep".  
        He awoke to find he had  
company in the bed, the kind of  
company that snuggled up next to  
him, on either side. His  
movements woke them up, and they put a smile on his face. A  
very big smile.  
        Around nine he slipped  
out of the bedroom and into the  
bathroom to shower and shave. Passing  
through the master  
bedroom again on his way to the nursery Ray found them  
contently sleeping each other's arms. He found six bottles  
in the warmer in the baby care room, along with a pile of  
freshly cleaned diapers. He then began inspecting each of  
the triplets onto to find they were in no need of  
immediate attention.  
        He spent half an hour  
simply admiring and occasionally  
stroking his instant family before  
his grumbling stomach  
reminded him that it had been some time since he'd eaten and  
he  
went off in search of food.  
        In the kitchen he found  
a note on the refrigerator door  
from his mother, telling him his  
dinner was in the ice box  
and an envelope with his name on it. Investigating the  
refrigerator he found a meal she left for him and into the  
microwave it went. He pulled out the milk and made himself a  
cup  
of coffee, carrying it and the envelope to the island  
bench, returning to the micro wave to fetch his meal and a  
fork to eat it with.  
        In between mouthfuls  
he opened the envelope to find a  
copy of memo from the Commissioner  
to Welsh. It was short  
and sweet and confused the hell out of him.  
        Pearen case closed. You  
were right. He is too good to  
be wasted. Inform Vecchio, his post  
is secure for the next  
six months under agreed terms - with room for negotiations,  
re: our discussion.  
         -I don't get it. I  
didn't do anything. How did they  
close the case? Why does he think  
it was me? and what  
negotiations is he talking about?-  
  
                        *~~~~~~~~~~*=@=*~~~~~~~~~~*  
  
        "You talk in your  
sleep," Meg said when he showed her  
the letter and asked if  
she knew what it was about.  
        "I do?"  
        "I've been hearing  
you do it since we started  
cohabiting."  
        "Oh."  
        "I'm looking forward  
to seeing if I can have an  
intelligent conversation with you while  
you're sleeping  
again or wether that was just a once off fluke."  
        "What were you doing?  
Interrogating me in my sleep?"  
        "Yes."  
        He stared at her  
and she handed him a cup of coffee.  
        "Go  
back to work. You've got two more cases to work  
on."  
        "One really."  
        "Oh?"  
        "The other  
one is Dante's. I'm supposed to write up a  
profile on him."  
        "Well, I suggest  
you get started on it. You've got  
everything you need now."  
        Ray nodded heading for  
the office.  
  
                        *~~~~~~~~~~*=@=*~~~~~~~~~~*  
  
        One week became two during  
which Ray cleared away the  
second case he'd been given and written  
up the requested  
profile on Dante and resumed his studies. Meg convinced him  
to keep the cast/brace on the whole time.  
        On the third week Paul  
arrived to drag him off to the  
hospital, put him out and went to  
work on his arm. He  
returned home with his arm in pressure bandages encased in  
the special brace for safety's sake.  
        He spent the next month  
trying to pretend he wasn't  
worried about how the final operation  
went. He had other  
things to concentrate one. He was handed four more cases to  
work on, called out to talk 3 leapers from splattering  
themselves on side walks, there were also 6 hostage  
situations where he was called in. Two of the bank job gone  
wrong type, four of the Husband's gone nuts and threatened  
to torch/shoot/knife/kill the wife and/or kids type. On top  
of that he had his studies to take care of, Fraser's  
counselling sessions, which were going extremely well, and  
despite the best efforts of Fraser, Meg, his mother and  
sister, there were times he played devoted daddy to the  
triples to the exclusion of all else.  
        The quartet gave up trying  
to keep him from taking a  
hands on approach to father hood and Meg  
had a wicked idea  
that she put into action.  
        Ray walked into the nursery  
hearing gurgling coming  
from a cradle and wandered to the partitioned  
section that  
contained the apple of his eye, Francesca junior. A few  
second later he burst out laughing. Meg & Fraser poked their  
heads  
into the room.  
        Ray reached into the  
cradle, and pulled Francesca Jnr  
out of the cradle, with one hand,  
using the cleverly  
designed strap and brace system with a handle on it that had  
been  
strapped into place over her bright'n'colourful  
jumpsuit.  
        Looking around as he  
transferred Francesca Jnr to his  
shoulder he spied Meg and Fraser.  
        "Who's bright idea  
was the baby handle?"  
        Meg's  
hand went up, then she entered the room, with  
Fraser on her heels.  
        "You're the one  
who insists on having a hands on part  
of their upbringing. It will  
make things easier for you to  
do it."  
        "Where did you get  
it?"  
        "Oh.  
I rang several disability support centers, who put  
me in touch with  
manufacturers of aides for people who loose  
the use of one arm,  
either due to a stroke or amputation.  
Most of them hung up on me when I told them what I wanted.  
But the last one laughed, asked if was serious and told me  
to bring a baby in. It was designed with padded straps so it  
won't  
harm the baby and the handle band is fixed with a  
rotation frame so that the handle will move around as the  
babies roll around. That's what the padded belt around her  
middle is for."  
        Ray examined it more  
closely while Francesca Jnr  
grabbed a handful of his hair and started  
gumming it.  
        "This is great..  
How long will it last?"  
        "The  
straps are adjustable. He said that unless they  
become fat little  
dumplings it should last until they're  
about 12 months.. When we'd have to bring one in to be  
measured up for a new set.."  
  
                        *~~~~~~~~~~*=@=*~~~~~~~~~~*  
  
        "It's enough to  
make you wonder how they ever conceived  
the Bambino's in the first  
place," Mrs Vecchio almost wailed  
to her friend over the phone.  
        Meg heard her voice,  
and her words from the corridor  
she had been traversing on her way  
to the nursery. As she  
realised Mrs Vecchio was talking about her and Ray she  
changed direction to approach the lounge room door way and  
plastered herself to the wall beside it.  
        "It's no wonder  
he buries himself in his work, she does  
nothing to make herself  
attractive for him... I think it is  
a blessing that she had triplets, because the way things  
stand I doubt she'd ever lure him away from his work and  
back to the bedroom to add to their little clan."  
        {Hmmph}  
  
                                *~~~~~~>{*}  
        Ray worked at his computer  
tapping his way through a  
report. He heard a creak from the nursery  
that the rocking  
chair always made when someone sat down in it. Not for the  
first time, he saved his document, then reached out and  
switched of the screen, angling it just so, the room beyond  
appeared on the screen, reflecting off the curved glass.  
Once he got the angle just right, Ray watched as Meg sat, a  
baby on her lap, supported by one arm as she slid open her  
zippered top.  
        He'd brought that top,  
with its long zip for her, and  
that wasn't the only thing she was  
wearing that he'd brought  
for her either. He got a glimpse of red  
lace, and then her  
hand was blocking his view, but only for a moment as she  
snapped open the catch and pulled back the cup on her lacy  
maternity bra.  
        He shifted in his seat  
and clattered at the keys  
pretending to be working as he watched  
her fingers move over  
her breast, moving to roll her nipple. He  
shifted in the  
seat again, feeling his sex start to grow warmer as blood  
rushed to it.  
        "Who's a hungry  
little Bambino?" She purred as her  
hands moved and she raised  
the baby, cradling it in her  
arms.  
        He switched the screen  
back on, feeling jealous of the  
infant that was by the sound of  
things latching onto it's  
mother's breast and suckling on it. He cleared the document  
of the gibberish he'd typed up and tried to get his mind  
back on to the subject at hand.  
        -Its ridiculous to be  
jealous of a baby - he thought as  
he tried to ignore the throbbing  
in his groin.  
        It was getting harder  
to ignore as the sex free days  
went by. It wasn't that he had no  
interest in sex, on the  
contrary, day after day he sat there, working away, being  
constantly distracted from his work as Meg came in to feed  
the babies. He'd lost count of the number of cold showers  
he'd taken after watching Meg tend to their offspring.  
        Truth to tell it was  
fear, of pain, of passing out and  
scaring his lover (or lovers)  
or worse of not being able to  
preform when the time came, due to stress and fear. But then  
at  
times like this his body kept reminding him that he had  
two interested partners who would be happy to indulge in a  
little mutual pleasuring.  
        He forced his mind back  
to the job at hand and  
completed the report. He was in the middle  
of spell checking  
it when he heard noises from the nursery that  
told him Meg  
was returning the baby to it's cradle.  
        The spell checker found  
another word to question the  
validity of the spelling of and he  
checked the list of  
psychobabble words taped to a shelf. He clicked on add and  
told himself that one of these days he'd pull down his  
psychobabble dictionary and type in all the words to add  
them to the spell checker's dictionary. He was always saying  
that,  
but he never got around to it. There was always  
something more important, more necessary to do.  
        Like profiles to write  
up, reports to write, cases to  
study, study assignments to carry  
out, babies to tend to.  
        The chair creaked, again,  
surprising Ray, Meg almost  
never feed more than one baby in a sitting,  
preferring to  
stagger their feeding's so they wouldn't all become  
querulous at the same time.  
        "Are you hungry  
too?" She cooed.  
        -Uh-hu-  
He thought as that question reminded him of the  
throbbing ache in  
his groin he'd almost managed to put out  
of his mind by getting his mind back on his work and off the  
enticing  
woman in the next room.  
        "I just bet you're  
sitting over there thinking I want  
some too."  
        -Huh??-  
        He cancelled the spell  
check, saved the document,  
switched the screen off and did a double  
take. Meg had  
turned the chair around so it directly faced the office. He  
had a good clear frontal view of her. The top zipped primly  
to her collar bone. As he watched, her finger hooked the  
ring through the zip and then slowly drew it down.  
        "Yes, you, you voyeur."  
        -*Gulp*-  
        He couldn't take his  
eyes off her reflection in the  
screen as that zip descended, until  
it reached the hem, and  
then her hands slid up either side of split. He watched her  
fingers run up and down the metal segments, her nails  
skittering over them, before she leaned forward and started  
pushing the top off. The pulse in his groin started  
throbbing at a faster tempo.  
        "I know you're watching  
me, or my reflection on that  
screen."  
        -Yikes-  
        The top slid off and  
was tossed aside, to flutter to  
the floor. He drank in the sight  
of her exposed torso, her  
post pregnancy bustline encased in sexy red lace. Her once  
more slim waist, her hands sliding over her pale skin.  
        -drool-  
        Then he noticed the skirt  
she was wearing, it had  
buttons from the waist to its knee length  
hem and as he  
watched, she eased each on of its buttons apart from the  
button holes. All the while she kept up a litany of saucy  
comments, erotic suggestions and just plain filthy come ons.  
        He  
gave a low groan, his hand sliding off the desk top  
to his lap,  
releasing the button on his own trousers, and  
sliding the zipper down.  
        -Mama Mia- he thought  
when Meg's hands parted the  
skirts voluminous folds to reveal her  
long legs were clad in  
fire red mid thigh stockings held up with  
a lacy red  
suspender belt and the ultimate seduction tool, a pair of  
almost translucent red French knickers.  
        His eyes were glued to  
the screen as she sat in the  
chair, touching herself, those hands  
he loved to feel  
sliding over his body sliding over her own. Gliding over  
pale skin he wanted to kiss, opening and removing the  
bra he wanted to remove. Stroking the breasts he wanted to  
kiss and caress, and suckle at like one of the bambino's.  
        His own hand slid over  
his skin, pulling his now  
rampant sex free of his shorts to start  
stroking it the way  
he wanted to feel her stroking it.  
        His eyes remained locked  
on the screen as Meg's hands  
wandered lower and her legs rose, drawing  
upward, till her  
feet rested on the edge of the seat and he watched her touch  
her  
own sex.  
        Almost without realising  
what he was doing, he began  
match the rhythm she used as she first  
stroked herself, then  
dipped a finger inside, and another, moving  
them in and out  
as he wrapped his own hand around his own sex and began  
moving it up and down in synchronicity.  
         "Are you touching  
yourself?" came her husky  
inquisitive voice.  
        "Uh-hu."  
        "Well stop."  
        -***?!?!?!***-  
        "Stop doing it and  
turn that chair around so I can see  
you."  
        With a major bit of will  
power he drew his hand away  
from his turgid sex and turned the chair  
to face her, and  
watched her slowly set, first one, then the other leg down,  
rising  
from the chair to approach.  
        -She isn't going to do  
what I think she's going to do?  
Is she?-  
        She did, entering the  
office, spinning to rip the  
curtains closed, then slid the doors  
closed, before she  
strode through the room, glorious in her semi-nakedness.  
        -Best 80 bucks I ever  
spent- he thought as he watched  
her move through the room clad only  
in that naughty  
lingerie.  
        She moved to straddle  
him, her knees resting on the  
leather seat either side of him. Her  
hands worked to rapidly  
open his shirt then started sliding over  
his skin.  
        -Oh yeah-  
        "Do you want to  
touch me?"  
        "Uh-hu."  
        "Go ahead,  
touch all you like."  
        His  
hand rose, making contact with her hip, then slid  
upwards, following  
her curves till it met with the underside  
of her breast. She rose  
up on her knees and started toying  
with his nipples. He lowered his head to nuzzle her throat,  
working his way down that pale column to her collar bone,  
with tiny kisses, then beyond to nuzzle at her breasts, till  
his  
nose found a peaked nipple.  
        He teased that taunt  
little bud with his nose till she  
pinched his and then began to  
flick his thumb over the  
opposing nub while his mouth closed over its mate.  
        He licked her nipple,  
then began circling it and its  
mate with his tongue and thumb, flicking  
them every time he  
completed a circle. She arched against him murmuring in  
pleasure and her hands emigrated from his chest to his lap,  
to start fondling his sex and jewels of his man hood. He  
let out a moan against her hot skin, then as one of her  
hands closed over his sac and began expertly stimulating it,  
he  
started suckling against her breast.          
        Her other hand closed,  
tightly around his sex and began  
sliding up and down its length  
in perfect synchronicity with  
the rhythm of his suckling. When he  
was reward for his  
lavish attention to her breast with a mouthful of milk, he  
stopped, swallowed, and dabbed at her breast with his tongue  
before  
transferring his attention to the other breast. He  
absently thought that his little Bambino's would be well and  
truly  
aggrieved later if he drank deeply of her life  
sustaining fluid.  
        His hand skittered over  
her skin, his arm wrapping  
around her, sliding over smooth skin,  
up and down her spine,  
then gliding over her rounded derriere, his  
hand wrapping  
around her thigh. She began rocking her hips in a swaying  
motion as his fingers teased the sensitive flesh of her  
inner thigh, then slid upwards to start stroking her sex.  
        "Yessss," she  
breathed.          
        Her  
hands stilled over him and withdrew from his sex,  
moving instead  
to his shoulders to hold on tight while his  
fingers moved over and inside her sex, teasing and  
tantalising her, drawing little cries of pleasure from her,  
until she raised her voice in a plea for satisfaction.  
        He lifted his head, his  
hand leaving her sex to travel  
up her back, to cup the back of her  
head as his mouth  
travelled up her throat, to nip at an ear, then along her  
jaw. Then he teased her further, skimming her lips with  
his tongue with feather light strokes, before nipping at the  
sensitised  
flesh with his teeth, and repeating the teasing  
motions of his tongue.  
        Her hands rose, pulling  
the binding from his hair  
letting his curls loose, to run through  
the silky waves of  
raven tresses, before tangling her fingers in the hair at  
the base of his skull as she let out a little growl  
and deepened the kiss.  
        Their tongues duelled  
as he let his hand go wandering  
again. Up and down her spine it  
went, with feather light  
caresses, playing her spine like a key board, grazing the  
skin with fast but light scratches, that made her arch away  
bringing their bodies in contact to rub against each other.  
        In response, her fingers  
slid free of his hair and slid  
down his chest, around his ribs and  
up his back. He gave a  
little growl of pleasure as she returned the favour, then  
guided his sex to her moist welcoming one, insinuating it's  
tip within her, before his hand travelled up her back  
again, to tangle in her hair, pulling her head back.  
        When his mouth started  
ravishing her neck and  
shoulders, she arched against him, then became  
still as the  
movement united them and his hot pulsating sex thrust deep  
inside.  
        He began rocking against  
her, and she raked her nails  
down his back and rose over him. Growling  
against her throat  
he dropped his hand wrapping his arm around her  
waist, his  
hand cupped her hip in a tight grip and his teeth left their  
mark  
behind.  
        His head went back, his  
eyes widening in surprise when  
she thrust down and started doing  
things with her pelvic  
muscles that she normally only did when she climaxed. She  
looked into his eyes with an almost feral look of pleasure  
and mischief.  
        -You win-  
        She moved over him, pushing  
him closer to the point of  
ecstasy with her strong movements, riding  
him hard and fast,  
taking and giving pleasure. He arched under her,  
his embrace  
becoming almost painfully tight as his body sank back  
into  
the expensive leather skin of the ergonomically designed  
chair. Crying out in his rapture he thrust back hard against  
her  
and she joined him there, sinking her teeth into his  
arched throat as she came.  
        Panting for breath as  
his body trembled in the  
aftermath of their rapturous union, Ray  
slid his arm back up  
her body to cup her head and pulled it down  
for a lazy kiss,  
then he just held her close till he could string  
more than a  
few words together intelligently.  
        "That beats a cold  
shower, hands down," he declared  
making her laugh.          
  
                                *~~~~~~>{*}  
        Meg sauntered into the  
kitchen, her hair all over the  
place, wearing her baggiest sweat  
pants, and another one of  
the bright zippered tops Ray had brought to make it easier  
for her to breast feed the little bundles of joy.  
        Mrs Vecchio was as expected  
bustling around the kitchen  
preparing yet another gastronomic delight  
of the Italian  
type for dinner and gave her a look of disdain as she opened  
a cupboard  
to pull out a cup and made coffee.  
        "You should make  
a cup for Raimondo too."  
        Ray  
walked into the kitchen unnoticed by his mother,  
but he didn't remain  
unnoticed for long as he reached out to  
snatch up a sliver of one  
of the vegetables she was  
preparing for the meal. She turned and slapped his hand and  
Ray jumped back and moved in on Meg to give her a  
spontaneous cuddle, and nuzzled her neck.  
        Mrs Vecchio's brows defected.          
        "That's what  
I like to see, my two favourite women  
working side by side."  
        {As if, she'd go after  
me with that knife if I tried to  
actually do some cooking}  
        Oblivious to the true  
state of things, Ray slipped away  
from Meg to open the refrigerator  
and pull out a chilled can  
of coke. He slipped the can into his  
pocket before he nudged  
the door shut with his hip and went wandering  
back out,  
goosing Meg on his way.  
        With a smirk of satisfaction  
at the amazed look on Mrs  
Vecchio's face, Meg wandered out with  
her coffee.  
  
                        *~~~~~~~~~~*=@=*~~~~~~~~~~*  
  
        Ray was working away  
on his computer, when Meg stomped  
into the office.  
        "Will you make her  
stop with the hints."  
        Ray  
turned looking around.  
        "Make  
who stop with what hints?"  
        "Your  
mother."  
        She  
waved a ladies magazine with a post it note  
sticking out of the  
middle of it. Ray took the magazine and  
flipped to the page marked to discover that it was the first  
page  
of an 8 page bridal feature.  
        "Oooh."  
        "She keeps leaving  
magazines lying around, either open  
to bridal features, or with  
notes. Not to mention the times  
she's dragged out the family albums and showed me the family  
wedding  
snaps. Including those from your first wedding. And  
then there are the times I hear her pretending to be  
*talking* on the phone to one of her friends about this  
person or that person's wedding. And while I have no  
objections to advice on dealing with the babies needs or  
help, I do object to being told I'm doing something all  
wrong and that I should do it this way or that. And just  
last night she gave me a learn to speak Italian tape and  
when I said I had not intention of learning Italian, she  
said, it's not for you, it's for the Bambino's."  
        "Oh dear."  
        "I don't insist  
they learn my second language and I  
resent the inference that because  
you have Italian heritage  
they *must* learn to speak the language."  
        "She's driving you  
up the wall isn't she."  
        "Yes."  
        "I'll talk  
to her about it.. But you should try to keep  
your temper with her..  
She's going to be invaluable around  
here when you return to work."  
        "Not good enough,  
among other things, she complains  
about my cooking, won't let me  
into the kitchen, I'm  
thoroughly sick of Italian food night after night. And it  
goes beyond that, she keeps badgering me to convert to  
Catholicism, telling me that if I just took more care in the  
way  
I dressed that you'd get your nose out of the books and  
be more affectionate, and I heard her giving Fraser a  
lecture.."  
        "A lecture? About  
what?"  
        "Homosexuality."  
        Ray almost groaned.          
        "What you get  
up to is your own business, Benton," Meg  
said mimicking his  
mother perfectly, "And I do not have any  
problems with your  
orientation, so long as you stop trying  
to seduce my son, and don't you think its time you started  
looking for a place of your own again."  
        Ray rose from his chair  
and marched out of the office  
and through the nursery flinging the  
door open.  
        "MA! Get in here!"  
        His mother heard  
the bellow and rushed to the nursery.  
        "You  
wanted something, Raimondo."  
        "Start  
packing and find somewhere else to stay until I  
tell you it's safe  
to go home."  
        "What?!"  
        "You heard me. You're  
doing exactly the same thing that  
made me move outta home after  
Ange and I got married. Well  
this time, I'm not moving out, you are. I will not put up  
with you insulting Meg or deciding when it's time for Fraser  
to  
move out. I chose a big house for a reason .. Benni is  
welcome to stay with us for as long as he wants, you on the  
other hand have stepped over the line and out worn your  
welcome."  
        "But.."  
        "I'm sorry Ma, but  
when you start insulting Meg's  
cooking and saying she's not woman  
enough to turn me on, you  
cross the line. You know *nothing* about  
our sex life. And  
inferring it's lacking spice because she doesn't put any  
effort it into it is going too far. Meg has never had any  
problem finding ways to lure me into the bedroom. And as for  
Fraser,  
*how* dare you lecture him and put a guilt trip on  
him!"  
  
                        *~~~~~~~~~~*=@=*~~~~~~~~~~*  
  
        Mrs Vecchio moved out  
the next day. Francesca the day  
after. Fraser became more demonstrative  
in his affections as  
a result.  
        The day Meg went to the  
consulate to make arrangements  
for her return to duty in the near  
future, Fraser went from  
affectionate to passionate. Virtually dragging Ray away from  
his  
work and into the bedroom. When Ray saw the array of  
things Fraser had set on the bedside table he was left with  
no doubts that Fraser had a little heavy duty seduction in  
mind.  
        And heavy duty it was,  
as Fraser used feathers, food,  
and a few interesting sex toys as  
well as his skilled hands  
and mouth to drive Ray absolutely wild. He also gave Ray his  
first  
lesson in gay sex, teaching Ray a lesson about his own  
body and  
a big hint of the pleasures he wanted to introduce  
him to.  
        Ray lay on the bed, after  
the event, panting and soaked  
with sweat, staring at the roof, Fraser  
curled up at his  
side, softly stroking his chest.  
        "I wonder how I  
ever thought of you as being an  
innocent," he said at last  
making Fraser chuckle.  
        Ray turned to give Fraser  
a peck on the tip of the  
nose.  
        "That was incredible."  
        "I'm glad to  
hear you say that."          
        "I bet you  
want me to return the favour in the same  
way."  
        "Not.. quite,"  
Fraser said, moving to give Ray a kiss  
then whispered in his ear  
while he nibbled at it.  
        Ray's eyes widened.  
        "Benni.."  
        "Please.."  
        "I don't want  
to do anything that might hurt you."  
        "You  
won't."  
        Ray  
stroked his face.  
        "I'm  
still not sure about.. Crossing that line with  
you, Benni."  
        "I'm not asking  
you to let me do it to you."  
        "Either  
way, Benni. It's not that.. I'm saying I won't  
do it. It's just  
that I still don't feel comfortable with  
the idea.."  
        Fraser's hands started  
wandering over Ray's body  
stroking him.  
        "Because you're  
still my legal guardian."  
        Rather  
than admit he was just having trouble dealing  
with the idea of homosexual  
intercourse full stop, Ray  
nodded. He didn't want to bring up the fact he'd studied the  
subject  
of male rape in his SAC classes and seen his fair  
share of cases in his time on the force. Or that he'd never  
forget the way Fraser looked after Dante violently raped and  
beat  
him to within a inch of his life. He never wanted to  
see that look on Benni's face again and was terrified of  
doing something that might cause his Benni to remember the  
incident.  
        And rather than confessing  
to all the reasons he didn't  
want to comply with Fraser's request  
he let Fraser tease his  
body back into a state of arousal. When  
he began to make  
love to the Canadian, he used all the tricks Fraser had  
introduced him to and using one or two of his own that  
surprised and delighted his inventive lover.  
        The look of pure adoration  
on Fraser's face as he  
reached for the lubricating gel made him  
feel guilty about  
failing to satisfy his lover in the way he wanted. It didn't  
help  
any when Fraser took the tube and used it to coat his  
sex "just in case" he changed his mind. The process made  
Ray's eyes flutter and his breath catch.  
        Then Fraser was directing  
his hand to his own nether  
regions and laying back, clawing at the  
sheets, getting  
extremely vocal as he started using his hand to pleasure  
him. He writhed and bucked in frustration because Ray  
couldn't use both hands, and began to moan plea's for more.  
        When Fraser launched  
up, he surprised Ray, pulling him  
up, pushing him back, kissing  
him with passionate desire. At  
first Fraser's passion scared the  
hell out of Ray, but then  
as his hands and body moved over Ray's, the Italio-American  
forget his inhibitions and fears swept away by his lover's  
passionate acts.  
        He felt Fraser's gel  
slick fingers slide inside him to  
start massaging his prostate,  
almost went through the roof  
again, as he had when Fraser preformed that act earlier. The  
click  
of the door barely registered, but the way Fraser  
stiffened a few moments later did.  
        Ray expected a teasing  
remark from Meg about starting  
without her, instead he got Fraser  
scrambling away from him  
and the shock of his life when he looked around and saw  
Dante, standing near the bed end, looking down at him.  
        "And I was so enjoying  
the show," Dante drawled as he  
cocked and aimed his weapon.  
        Pure shock held Ray immobile  
as Dante pulled the  
trigger and he felt a stinging pain in his chest  
and looked  
down dumbly to see a dart sticking out of his chest. Another  
joined  
it a moment later and numbness began to spread  
through his chest, radiating outward from the darts.  
        While his body starting  
going numb, his mind started  
racing, knowing that he would die,  
and die horribly if he  
didn't find a way to escape whatever fate Dante had in store  
for  
him. With his crippled arm his chances of fighting him  
were pretty low, and he had Fraser to think of.  
        "Go ahead,"  
he said, looking up at Dante as he saw  
Dante shifting aim of the  
dart gun away, swinging it in the  
direction Fraser had scrambled. "Kill me, do you think I  
really  
care."  
        The dart gun swung back  
his way.  
        -Go on,  
Benni, get out of here, before I pass out-  
        "You've  
already destroyed my life. Taking away my sight  
leaving me crippled  
for life," he said waving his cast  
encased arm around, "with your surprise package. You think I  
like living in extreme pain every day any more than you  
do.."  
        "False bravado."  
        Ray gave a mirthless  
laugh.  
        "I've  
got three babies to think of.. And I thought of  
them when I was  
sitting here thinking of blowing my brains  
out when all the stress and pain finally got to me. Did I  
mention, I went out and took out 3 of the biggest insurance  
policies I could get.. Policies that wouldn't be worth the  
paper they're printed on if I kill myself. But I knew you  
were coming to finish what you started. I don't have to kill  
myself..  
You'll do it for me, put me out of my misery and my  
kids will benefit."  
        He heard the sliding  
door open. Dante spun and Ray used  
the last of his strength to hurl  
a pillow at Dante. Ray  
collapsed bonelessly over the bed as the pillow flew through  
the  
air, hitting Dante's arm, spoiling his aim. Ray heard a  
PFFFT, then a muttered curse from Dante. He listened to  
Dante move off, holding his breath, feeling the numbness  
spreading through his body. Counting to five, he looked  
around to see Dante moving through the door way, going after  
Fraser.  
        Ray waited two seconds  
longer, then with a supreme  
effort dragged himself up, fighting  
the wave of lassitude  
that swept over him. Sending prayers to the lord above, he  
pulled the bedside drawer open, his prayer that it wouldn't  
make enough noise to be heard in the next room was answered.  
He  
saw the gun he'd placed there and reached in pulling it  
out. He gripped it in his teeth and crawled across the bed.  
        When he scrambled off,  
his legs threatened to turn to  
jelly under him. Fighting it, he  
took hold of the gun and  
with an effort pulled the safety back before he staggered  
out into the nursery.  
        The doors to his office,  
which had been left open when  
Fraser dragged him out, were now closed,  
and Fraser was  
standing behind one of the bullet proof enclosures directly  
across from the office. As he watched, Fraser ripped stuffed  
toys  
from their places and hurled them around the partition  
at Dante who was moving in on him, swatting toy's out of the  
air  
as they went. It didn't slow down the ill intentioned  
killer one bit, but it did stop him from being able to take  
effective aim.  
        Ray raised his arm and  
rested the gun on it, steading  
his aim, sending pain radiating through  
his body, which  
staved off the sedative induced lassitude for a time.  
        "End of the line  
McIntire. Drop it or I'll drop you  
where you stand. I won't let  
you hurt him again," Ray  
growled, swaying dangerously, having trouble focusing on  
Dante spinning as his vision started swimming.  
        He saw Fraser ripping  
a shelf off the wall above the  
baby's cradle, then hurl it at the  
office doors. The alarm  
started blaring at "Wake the dead" volume and the babies  
started wailing.  
        Between one blink and  
the next, Dante was standing  
before him and a booted foot slammed  
into his hand sending  
the gun flying.  
        He cried out in pain,  
staggering back.  
        "NO!"  
Fraser cried.  
        Dante's  
leg lashed out again, this time kicking Ray in  
the crotch. Ray gave  
a strangled scream and started folding  
up and perversely the pain gave him a few moments more of  
clarity, just enough to be aware of Dante making another  
snap kick, that booted foot coming his way, a split second  
before it connected with his chest, and pain exploded in his  
chest  
as he flew back.  
        He hit the floor, hard.  
The last thing he heard was the  
sound of his children's wails almost  
drowning out the alarm,  
and Fraser, yelling something, but the pain  
and drug were  
too strong for him to fight anymore and consciousness fled  
before his befuddled mind could make sense of what Fraser  
was yelling.          
  
                *~~~~~~~~~~*ooOO0=@=0OOoo*~~~~~~~~~~*  
  
                                Part  
Twenty Three  
  
                                  
ooOO0=@=0OOoo          
  
        His world was ablaze  
with agony, radiating out from his  
chest, groin, arm and shoulders.  
With a deep, resonating  
groan Ray came back to his senses. It wasn't long before he  
wished he hadn't as he discovered the predicament he was in.  
        He  
was hanging suspend by handcuffs attached to a chain  
slung over  
a rafter in the garage. He knew it was the  
garage, even in the darkness, because he could see his  
beloved Riv stored away at the back of the garage.  
        That's not all he saw.  
He also saw Dante, flick knife  
in hand engraving words into the  
Riv's restored paint job.  
He wanted to yell at him to leave the car alone. But a very  
dry throat prevented him, all he could was croak.  
        The croak was enough  
to draw Dante's attention. He  
flipped the knife closed, slipping  
it into his pocket, and  
drew a silk scarf from another. Ray's eyes widened when he  
saw that colourful silk. Even in the dimness he recognised  
it, it was one of his mothers.  
  
                        *~~~~~~~~~~*=@=*~~~~~~~~~~*  
  
        Numerous colleagues of  
Ray's swarmed through the house,  
and over the main bedroom and  
nursery. The nursery being  
where the bruised Fraser sat in a chair, holding a folded  
terry tea-towel to his temple. He watched three of Ray's  
colleagues, among them Jack Huey pacing around the room  
rocking and crooning to the babies trying to get them  
settled down, as he tried to answer the questions that were  
being fired at him.  
        "Yes, I'm sure it  
was Dante... No he didn't get into  
the office.. Ray gave me enough  
time to get away, into the  
nursery .. I slammed the doors closed and kicked the bolt  
home to activate the automatic alarm."  
        "Who set it off?"  
        "I did. Ray  
said it went back to base... I knew I  
wouldn't have time to call  
it in before Dante came after  
me."  
        "What were you doing  
when he broke in?"  
        Fraser  
was glad that he'd taken the time to strip the  
sheet from the bed  
and replace it with a fitted one before  
he threw the quilt over it. The soiled sheet was now stuffed  
away  
under Meg and Ray's dirty clothes in the linen hamper  
which would spare Ray the indignity of having the fact he'd  
been getting intimate with someone immediately before  
Dante's arrival.  
        "I was helping Ray  
in the bedroom. He has trouble doing  
the house work with his crippled  
arm," Fraser said, the  
truth, in part.  
        Ray did have trouble  
with the house work, and he had  
been helping Ray, discover the joy's  
of a more experimental  
sex life. But they didn't need to know that. Ray's  
colleagues knew all about Ray's arm and there were nods all  
around as they accepted his story.  
        "You didn't hear  
anything?"  
        "The  
house is sound proofed, every room of it is sound  
proof. It takes  
an extremely loud noise, such as the alarm  
to get past that. We didn't know Dante had breached the  
security measures till he entered the room, with his gun."  
        "You said he shot  
Ray."          
        "At  
least twice.. But he wasn't using a standard gun..  
He was using  
a dart gun. I found one of the darts on the  
floor in here after he left."  
        "I found two on  
the floor in the bedroom," one of the  
first detective's on  
the scene said.  
        Fraser looked around  
and identified him as Detective  
Rawling's, a man he didn't know  
very well. Apparently he'd  
joined the team after Ray's accident, filling the vacancy  
Ray's extended period of leave had left behind.  
        "I sent Shumacker  
with one to the hospital to see if  
they could identify what it was  
loaded with."  
        Welsh gave a little nod.  
        "Good move."  
        "Obviously  
the drug doesn't last long," the other  
detective who insisted  
on joining in on grilling Fraser.  
"You were conscious when we arrived."  
        "He didn't shoot  
me.. Though he was trying to .. Ray  
and the partitions prevented  
him.. Ray distracted him when  
he reached a position where he could aim at me."  
        "So you were conscious  
the entire time."  
        "No..  
I was unconscious for a brief period.. Ray  
managed to get his gun  
and tried to stop Dante.. But the  
drug was affecting him.. Dante disarmed him.. Using his kick  
boxing  
skills.. he didn't need to do anything else, Ray was  
on the verge of passing out anyway, but.."  
        "He didn't stop."  
        "No.. he kept  
kicking him.. I tried to stop him. Found  
Ray's gun, but he kicked  
it out of my hands before I could  
fire and..then he subdued me.."  
        "That's how you  
got the bruises."  
        Fraser  
nodded.  
        "I  
was unconscious for a brief time.. When I came to,  
he was gone,  
so was Ray. And I couldn't find his gun.."  
        "So  
we know he's armed."  
        "He  
also ransacked the bedroom drawers.."  
        Rawling's  
nodded.  
        "The  
contents are scattered through out the room. Was  
there another gun?  
Were there any more guns in the house?"  
        "Ray  
kept one in each of the bedside cabinets, and one  
in his office,  
another in my room. And there's one in the  
kitchen, it's hidden inside a false recipe book. There was  
another one in the lounge room, inside a video case marked,  
Our Holiday in Florida.."  
        "Anywhere else?"  
Welsh asked.  
        "Um.."  
Fraser thought about it, Ray had told him where  
he'd hidden all  
the guns in the house so Fraser could find  
one in an emergency - such as Dante breaking in.  
        "The toilets.. He  
taped guns to the back of the bowl in  
every toilet. There is one  
in the bathroom, and another in  
the shower room."  
        "This house has  
an arsenal in it."  
        "There  
was also one in the pool room, and a shot gun.  
The shot gun is hidden  
under the pool table, and the pistol  
in a holster he superglued to the slot behind the middle  
cushion of the couch, where it can't be seen, but can be  
drawn out if it has to be."  
        "The only room he  
seems to have forgotten is the  
laundry."  
        "It's in a fake  
box of laundry detergent there. But,  
apart from the guns in the  
drawers, all the guns were hidden  
and Dante didn't have time to  
search the house for hidden  
weapons."  
        "So we'll assume  
he has at least two guns, three  
counting the dart gun. Until we  
search the house," Welsh  
said, giving one of the Detectives  
the sign to start  
searching.  
        The detective moved off  
to carry out the search.  
        "Did  
Ray have the guns fully loaded?"  
        Fraser  
nodded.  
        "But  
in all the pistols, the first bullet is a blank,  
and the first chamber  
in the revolvers are empty. Except the  
gun in my room."  
        "Why is that the  
exception?"  
        "It's  
filled with trick cartridges.. He said he knew  
that I'd have trouble  
shooting Dante, that if he broke in I  
should let him disarm me and get the gun.. Each cartridge is  
designed  
to disintegrate on impact and leave what looks like  
blood on the  
target."          
        Welsh  
gave an admiring smile at that.  
        "And  
the gun he placed in my drawer is distinctly  
different to the rest.  
He fired a round off at a wall for  
Meg and I to see what happened when it fired, and told us  
that if Dante used it, and shot at us, not to duck, to let  
him shoot and play dead. Or pretend to be wounded.."  
  
                        *~~~~~~~~~~*=@=*~~~~~~~~~~*  
  
        Gagged now, with his  
mother's scarf Ray could only  
watch as Dante continued defacing  
his car and silently fume.  
On the plus side, it took his mind off  
the pain. Every now  
and then Ray grasped the chains, and slowly but surely began  
inching  
his way up the chain that held him suspended off the  
floor, but  
at the same time, he put himself through  
excruciating pain doing it.  
        At one stage, he managed  
twist himself around while  
Dante's back was to him. Looking through  
the dimness he  
searched for Fraser's still form and was relieved to see  
nothing out of place.  
        Wether or not Fraser  
was dead or alive, didn't concern  
Ray. For all he knew, where Dante's  
motives were concerned  
he might have been way off the mark but one thing he  
believed, and believed strongly in, was that Fraser was  
still alive, that Dante had special plans for him.  
        Turning back to face  
the direction he'd been left  
dangling in, Ray looked up to see his  
watch glowing back at  
him. Over an hour had passed since he'd come to his senses.  
He wondered how long it would take for someone to realise  
where he was. If anyone worked it out.  
        He wondered wether or  
not he'd live to see another day.  
Wether or not that happened didn't  
bother him too much. Some  
of what he'd said to Dante in the bedroom  
was true. He had  
taken out huge insurance policies, there were actually five.  
3 identical  
policies, each one naming one of the children as  
the beneficiary.  
Another, named Meg and Fraser as joint  
beneficiaries.  
        The last one named various  
members of his immediate  
family, his mother and sisters being the  
main beneficiaries,  
with Maria's children being secondary beneficiaries.  
No one  
would be able to say he had covered all the bases if the  
worst happened.  
        He'd revised his will  
again, the same day he'd made out  
the new policies. There were two  
wills, one covering his  
current assets, known and hidden, the other written to take  
into account his expected settlement. Fraser knew where he  
put them, which one to hand over, which to burn.  
        What really tormented  
Ray as he dangled from the  
chains, inching his way ever closer to  
the beam above, was  
where Dante got the scarf he'd been gagged with, and wether  
or not Dante had got to his mother, first. He kept wondering  
wether  
or not he'd killed her or simply terrorised her and  
left her bound up or imprisoned somewhere.  
        Fraser knew Dante, Fraser  
said he wouldn't hurt  
innocents, and all the evidence, discounting  
that letter  
from Dante, seemed to point to the fact Fraser was right.  
But they were in big trouble if Dante lived by his former  
superior's code, that everyone is guilty of something.  
        Ray hoped and prayed  
Dante didn't live by that code,  
that his mother was still alive  
and relatively unharmed.  
        His fingers scrabbled  
hire up the chain and met wood.  
        -Yes!-  
        Dante was still hard  
at work, defacing the Riv. He  
didn't notice Ray getting his hands  
up on the beam, bitting  
down on the gag. Using every ounce of will power to keep  
back a cry of agony, Ray started swinging his body back and  
forth. Finally, he had the momentum he needed and he made  
one last swing, hooking a leg over the beam. He sent up a  
prayer of thanks that the person who built the garage had  
put in open cross beams, suitable for throwing ropes and  
chains over. Not that he particularly appreciated being  
connected to one of those chains.  
        Taking as deep a breath  
as he could, he gritted his  
teeth biting down on the gag again and  
pulled himself up  
onto the wide beam, dragging himself around. The pain as he  
achieved his goal was incredible, but he pushed it aside. He  
knew  
his very survival depended on not letting the pain get  
the better of him.  
        -What do you know. Paul  
was right, I could get full  
mobility back in my arm, if I ever learn  
to live with the  
pain. *If* I live long enough to learn to live with it-  
        Looking along the beam,  
Ray spotted one of the rusty  
nails that used to hold fanbelts of  
various sizes. Wiggling  
along the beam, carefully sliding the chain along so that it  
wouldn't  
rattle and catch Dante's attention. Such was the  
pain Ray was already in, and his concentration on reaching  
his goal that he didn't even notice the numerous splinters  
that sliced into and through his naked skin.  
  
                        *~~~~~~~~~~*=@=*~~~~~~~~~~*  
  
        Fraser was putting the  
last now sleeping infant down in  
it's crib watched by Huey, who'd  
been assigned guard duty,  
while Welsh spoke with the loan remaining investigative  
detective. The man he'd sent to search for guns.  
        "I found all the  
guns he mentioned, except the one in  
his bed room. That one was  
missing, the drawers were turned  
out like they were in the master bedroom," Fraser heard the  
detective report.  
        "That means he has  
four guns, one that's no use to  
him."  
        As Fraser turned away  
from the cradle he saw the  
detective nod.  
        "We know his point  
of entry.."  
        "How  
did he get in?" Fraser asked.  
        Welsh  
looked around.  
        "The  
laundry, with a crow bar."  
        "Oh."  
        "Has the garage  
and workshop been searched?" Welsh  
asked the detective.  
        "Not that I know  
off."  
        Welsh  
looked to Fraser again.  
        "Ray  
had his car stored there, didn't he?"  
        Fraser  
nodded.  
        "Check  
and see if it's still there."  
        The  
detective nodded spinning on his heel, and marched  
out. As another  
officer entered the room, leading Meg into  
the room.  
        "Ah, Inspector."  
        The moment Welsh  
used her rank title instead of her  
name, Meg knew the worst had  
happened. One look at Fraser's  
bruised face, with its blood stained bandaid on his temple  
confirmed it.  
        "Dante."  
        Welsh nodded taking a  
deep breath, but Fraser beat him  
to it.  
        "He broke in and  
took Ray."  
        "Took  
not killed."  
        "It  
seems he used a dart gun to subdue Ray," Welsh  
added, attracting  
Meg's attention, "We had the hospital  
identify the drug in  
the darts, it's a fast acting sedative,  
Ray was too the best of  
our knowledge shot twice with these  
darts, by their judgement, that would have sedated him fully  
within  
a minute, to two max. And keep a man his weight out  
for over a 12 hours. If they were loaded to capacity."  
        "There's no satisfaction  
in torturing an unconscious  
man," Meg said turning her attention  
back to Fraser,  
satisfied that for the moment that while Ray might be in the  
worst  
possible hands he was relatively safe for at least  
several hours.  
        "He didn't.. hurt  
you did he?"  
        Fraser  
shook his head.  
        "He  
subdued me, when I tried to stop him hurting Ray,  
beyond that.."  
        "He didn't have  
time for more, Fraser activated the  
alarm and set it off,"  
Welsh interjected.  
        Meg looked at him.  
        "As far as we can  
gather, once he subdued Fraser, he  
grabbed every gun he could find  
in a hurry and left the  
premises, taking Ray with him."  
        "How many did he.."  
        "Three."  
        "The bedside  
cabinets."  
        Fraser  
nodded.  
        "Your  
gun too?"  
        Fraser  
nodded.  
        "We're  
aware of the trick cartridges."  
        "A  
fat lot of good being aware of them will do with you  
unless you  
know what gun was Fraser's."  
        "The standard .38  
calibre revolver Mounties are issued  
with."  
        "He lost that along  
with everything else he owned while  
he was in Australia."  
        Fraser nodded.  
        :Oh  
dear: Welsh thought.  
        "Ray  
brought a new gun for Fraser to keep in his  
drawer. A Magnum .45.  
That and the Colt .45 were easier to  
get the cartridges for than any other gun he could have  
selected."  
  
                        *~~~~~~~~~~*=@=*~~~~~~~~~~*  
  
        Ray had reached and extracted  
the rusty nail, using it  
to pick the lock on the cuffs. He succeeded  
in freeing his  
hands and was inching his way along the beam when he heard  
the sound of someone moving through the work room. He looked  
back  
to see Dante look in that direction and thankfully not  
his own.  
        He saw Dante flip the  
tail of his coat back and extract  
a gun, then saw it was the Dirty  
Harry hand gun he'd brought  
for Fraser and smirked.  
        -Sucker- he thought as  
he resumed scuttling along the  
beam.  
        Dante moved into the  
shadows to duck down behind  
another of Ray's impulse purchases during  
his shopping  
spree, a 4 foot mobile tool chest that contained every  
conceivable tool a man could need to fix his car.  
        And Dante wasn't the  
only one to move into the shadows.  
Ray reached the section of the  
ceiling cavity that was in  
shadows and yanked his gag down. Looking around he saw a  
thin shaft of light falling on a cross connecting beam and  
that beam became his destination. Making like a cat, Ray  
switched to the main cross beam that would get him on the  
right path to reach his goal.  
        If memory served him  
correctly, one of the sheets of  
corrugated iron that covered the  
roof frame was loose. He'd  
been meaning to get someone in to fix it, but after paying  
out for the insurance policies he hadn't had the spare cash  
to do it. Now that lack of money could prove to be a  
blessing in disguise. That beam of light could only be  
coming from that loose sheet.  
        He was half way across  
the beam when the lights,  
activated by the switch by the workrooms  
access door, came  
on, lighting up the car, but thankfully, not the whole  
garage. Ray scuttled faster along the beam as he heard the  
door swing open. Though he wanted to look, he forced himself  
to  
concentrate solely on his objective, reaching the side  
wall and that loose panel.  
        Foot steps echoed through  
the high vaulted garage, then  
stopped abruptly. He heard an oath  
delivered by one of his  
colleagues and assumed it was at the sight of his defaced  
car. The steps backed up, and Ray chanced a glance, in time  
to see Dante peer around that tool chest and take aim on  
the man. As he watched, Dante fired, his colleague jerked  
and spun, to fall through the door way, half in and half  
out.  
        When the man lay still  
without movement, or drawing  
breath, Ray smirked triumphant in that  
moment, then  
continued scuttling onwards toward his goal.  
        -Fraser's alive. He told  
them about that gun-  
        He  
heard footsteps, but didn't look around again until  
he reached his  
goal. He looked back in time to see Dante  
standing over his colleague, gun aimed down at his prone  
form. He winced as Dante pulled the trigger and fired off  
three rounds into the mans back. He knew it wouldn't harm  
the man, but those cartridges slamming into his back and  
disintegrating had to hurt.  
        He saw Dante turn away,  
look around, and curse.  
        -He  
knows I'm loose now, I've got nothing to lose-  
        Dante  
began glancing around the garage, that big gun  
going up to his shoulder.  
Ray braced himself and reached out  
to shove against the loose panel  
with all his might,  
desperation and adrenaline giving him greater strength. With  
a metallic  
screech the panel's last rivets tore loose and  
the sheet parted company with the trusses.  
        Dante swung the gun in  
Ray's direction and fired. Ray  
discovered how much being hit by  
the trick cartridges hurt  
as one slammed into his side and disintegrated, he was  
barely aware of the pseudo blood that splattered his side.  
        He caught a glimpse of  
someone's feet passing through  
the side door, as he threw himself  
threw the gap in the  
roof. Another shot grazed his calf as he passed through the  
gap, and then he was falling, to the thick layer of grass  
outside the garage, hitting it with a thud.  
        His world view swam as  
the breath gushed out of him,  
and he heard a familiar voice crying  
out his name, followed  
by a second familiar voice a heart beat slower than the  
first.  
        -Fraser and Huey- his  
mind supplied.  
        He  
heard something clatter to the cement floor in the  
garage. After  
drawing in a ragged breath the next thing he  
heard was a door opening, and the sound of two men, running  
across the cement porch, feet slapping against stairs, then  
hitting the grass.  
        Consciousness was fading  
away again, as he listened to  
their rapid approach, and gun shots  
rang out from inside the  
garage.  
        One, gun, one shot, then  
a second gun. Two shots. The  
first gun fell silent.  
        -Please God, let that  
be Dante- He thought as his last  
sight was of Fraser, going to one  
knee at his side and  
reaching out to him, concern and fear etched on his bruised  
and battered features.  
  
                *~~~~~~~~~~*ooOO0=@=0OOoo*~~~~~~~~~~*  
  
                                Part  
Twenty Four  
  
                                  
ooOO0=@=0OOoo          
  
        Welsh flattened himself  
against the side wall of the  
work room, gun held at the ready resting  
on his shoulder,  
looking down at his officer the back of who's shirt was  
covered with fake blood.  
        Meg crept almost silently  
through the workroom, the gun  
she'd snatched from its hiding place  
in laundry on her way  
through held up at her shoulder. Stoping at the side of the  
fallen officer, she checked his pulse then nudged him over  
onto his back. Blood covered the downed officer's face,  
legacy of a nasty looking bullet graze, but he'd live.  
        Movement caught Meg eye  
and she glanced up to see Welsh  
signalling her to take up a stand  
on the other side of the  
door. Signalling her agreement with a nod, she stepped over  
the fallen officer. With a suddenness that was startling she  
stopped  
in her tracks and her arms swung around, extending  
her weapon out, ready to fire.  
        "Freeze, or I'll  
blow your God damn head off," she  
barked.  
        Welsh slid down the wall,  
into a crouch and chanced a  
peek around the door frame to see Dante.  
        The malevolent Mountie  
was holding a gun in much the  
same position as Meg. Welsh recognised  
the weapon as being  
one of Ray's personal weapons.  
        "Don't think I won't  
do it, you son of bitch," Meg  
growled.  
        Welsh rose up from his  
crouch fast.  
        :That  
things loaded with live ammo, he's already fired  
two shots, that  
means the blank's been fired, that means if  
he pulls the trigger she's dead:  
        "Drop the gun, McIntire!"  
        "Make me."  
        Welsh heard both  
guns fire within a split second of  
each other, and assumed Dante's  
fired first as Meg went  
flying back. His first instinct was to move after her, as  
she hit the cement. To his shock and amazement, Meg sat up,  
bringing the gun back up into line, ready to fire again.  
        Hearing something metallic  
clatter to the cement floor  
of the garage Welsh squatted fast to  
peek around the door  
frame again. What he saw was Dante with a bullet hole dead  
set between his eyes, the gun he'd been holding on the  
cement. As he watched, the murderous Adonis, collapsed like  
a marionette who's strings had been severed.  
        Looking back around,  
Welsh saw Meg lowering the gun,  
and wrapping an arm around herself.  
        "Damn, that hurt."          
        Holstering his own  
gun Welsh rushed to her side. Meg  
looked up at him as he kneeled  
at her side.  
        "Remind me to thank  
Ray for his latest love token."  
        "What  
was it?"  
        She  
pulled her shirt open, to show off a kevlar vest  
cut to mould to  
her figure.  
        "Kevlar lingerie."  
        Looking at the St  
Christopher pendant around her neck,  
and the rabbits foot stitched  
to the vest, just below the  
breasts, with a four leaf clover in resin pendant, Welsh  
assumed, the kevlar vest wasn't the only love token meant to  
protect  
her that Ray had presented her with.  
  
                *~~~~~~~~~~*ooOO0=@=0OOoo*~~~~~~~~~~*  
  
                                  
The End  
  
                *~~~~~~~~~~*ooOO0=@=0OOoo*~~~~~~~~~~*  
  
                                  
EPILOGUE ONE  
  
                                  
ooOO0=@=0OOoo          
  
        A trip to the hospital  
revealed the extent of Ray's  
injuries to be deep bruising and muscle  
strain, plus a nasty  
collection of splinters it took over an hour  
to extract.  
        Fraser's head wound was  
professionally bandaged and he  
was told to stay off his feet, and  
the injured officer was  
pronounced to be suffering from severe concussion, and  
stable.  
        Dante was pronounced  
very dead.  
        As for  
why Ray hadn't succumbed for 12 hours to the  
drug he'd been pumped  
full of, long term users of the  
medication he took to control the pain in his arm were  
notorious for their ability to shake off the effects of the  
particular sedative used by Dante in the darts, Adrenaline  
did the rest.  
        On his awakening in the  
hospital, Ray was informed  
Dante was dead, and no longer a threat  
to anyone. His first  
and only question was about his mother and once he was told  
she was fine and out in the waiting room, where she and Meg  
were glaring at each other, he slipped into a well deserved  
deep sleep with a faint smile on his face.  
  
                        *~~~~~~~~~~*=@=*~~~~~~~~~~*  
  
        An investigation in that  
day's events uncovered the  
fact that the Vecchio family home had  
been broken into two  
hours before Dante broke into the trio's urban fortress. It  
also revealed that he'd hijacked a private plane, keeping a  
gun to the pilots head for the trip to Chicago. The manic  
mountie had left the pilot bound and gagged in the plane  
after touch down. The pilot was found when another pilot  
approaching a nearby plane heard him kicking the wall to  
attract attention.  
  
        The corpses of last two  
felons on Dante's hit list were  
found, their deaths being the grizzliest  
of all.  
  
         An autopsy on Dante  
revealed that he wouldn't have  
lived the month out. The tumorous  
growth in his brain would  
have killed him by choking off the supply of blood to his  
brain within a few weeks. He was also pronounced to have  
been addicted to the strongest pain killers available and  
two different forms of narcotics. The combination of drugs  
he used to combat the pain he suffered as a result of the  
tumour explained how he'd kept going right up till the end.  
  
                        *~~~~~~~~~~*ooOO0=@=0OOoo*~~~~~~~~~~*  
  
                                  
EPILOGUE TWO  
  
                                  
ooOO0=@=0OOoo          
  
        While Fraser placed the  
babies in their high chairs  
around the dining table, Ray set the  
table and his mother  
and Frannie bustled around carrying in food. Huey fiddled  
with the video camera at the end of the table, while a  
collection of friends and colleagues of the trio, Elaine,  
Turnbull and Welsh among them chatted in the adjoining  
lounge area and discussed the gifts they'd brought to  
celebrate the triplets first birthday. Maria ran through the  
house,  
with Tony trying to catch their offspring as they ran  
around with  
Zap guns playing good guys/bad guys.  
        Hearing the front door  
slam, Ray placed the last fork  
down and walked into the corridor  
and was forced to jump out  
of the path of a rapidly moving Vecchio  
child. Looking  
around he saw Meg stomping down the corridor, looking well  
and truly aggravated.  
        -Oh dear, whatever she  
was grumpy about this morning,  
has only gone from bad to worse-  
        "Bedroom, now,"  
she said on reaching.  
        Ray  
followed after her as she stomped down the  
corridor, dodging another  
Vecchio child, who came out of  
nowhere and zapped him.  
        Following Meg into the  
bedroom, Ray turned to close the  
door, and turned to find her spinning  
on the balls of her  
feet to face him.  
        "You are going to  
the Doctor. Tomorrow. I've already  
made the appointment for you."  
        "Why? You didn't  
catch something contagious did you? Is  
that why you've been so grumpy  
lately?"  
        "You are going to  
get *fixed* mister."  
        "Fixed?"  
        "I'm pregnant,  
*again*."  
        -Opps-  
        "Look on the bright  
side, Cara Mia," he said spreading  
his hands, free from scars,  
thanks to the efforts of his  
very soon to be brother in law.  
        "Bright side! What  
bright side? The triplets are like a  
black hole in the wallet."  
        "Well, Ma can't  
say you don't have what it takes to  
lure me back into the bedroom  
again."  
        She stared at him, and  
he gave a weak little smile.  
        "I'll  
go to the doctor tomorrow."  
        "You  
better. Because we can't afford to raise more than  
seven children."  
        "Seven??!"  
        "That's right,  
*Seven*, I'm 3 months gone, and the  
Doctor says this time it's quads,  
you virile Studmuffin."  
        Ray  
fainted.  
  
                *~~~~~~~~~~*ooOO0=@=0OOoo*~~~~~~~~~~*  
                          
The End of Heads or Tails  
  
        Copyright April 13, 1998  
Red Skye  
  
        Standard disclaimers  
apply, Alliance owns the copyright  
of all Due South Characters that  
I didn't invent for this  
story, and I just borrowed their toys to play with them a  
little. They are action figures, aren't they? {:>D  



End file.
